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Mississippi State
No. 2 Georgia Completes Homestand Sweep With Win Over No. 50 Mississippi State, 4-0
March 24, 2019 | Women's Tennis
No. 2 Georgia Wins Battle of Bulldogs
Athens, Ga. - The No. 2-ranked Georgia women's tennis team topped No. 50-ranked Mississippi State, 4-0, Sunday afternoon to complete a weekend homestand at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
Georgia improved to 15-0 overall and 7-0 in Southeastern Conference play. The Bulldogs also improved their home match record to 7-0. Mississippi State fell to 11-8 overall and 2-5 in conference play.
"It was a good weekend for us to get some good wins over the Mississippi schools," said Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace. "I thought our players, especially the ones in the pit [courts 4-6] here, played unbelievable tennis. It was a good solid win for us and now we hit the road for two straight weeks before we conclude this SEC season here at home. We've got to do a great job like we've done this year, play some high level tennis and get some wins on the road."
The home Bulldogs won the doubles point, while sophomore Vivian Wolff, freshman Meg Kowalski and junior Elena Christofi stacked on straight-set wins in singles to seal the victory for Georgia.
"We know doubles is a six-game, no-ad set so anything can happen. It's always going to be close and tight," said Wallace. "You've got to love that environment and get used to that. We've now played a lot of doubles points and they all seem to be a bit like that so it's just business as usual. I always say now the match starts here because doubles is one point, singles is six. You always win or lose the match in singles, so you've got to be ready. After you get that doubles point you want to keep the momentum and make it really hard for them to mount a comeback."
The Georgia doubles wins occurred on courts one and two. The doubles tandem of Vivian Wolff and Elena Christofi defeated Mississippi State's freshman duo Emma Antonaki and Tamara Racine on court two. After four straight breaks and the score tied at 3-3, Wolff and Christofi went on to win three straight games. Their 6-3 victory improved their doubles record to 8-0.
Over on court one up 5-4 and on deuce point, Katarina Jokic served a ball into the corner, and teammate Lourdes Carle finished the game at the net on Mississippi State's return. The win against Emma Antonaki and Anastasia Rentouli clinched the doubles point for Georgia and was Jokic and Carle's first doubles clinch of the season. Georgia's doubles victory broke Mississippi State's four-match streak of taking the doubles point in the SEC. Georgia has won seven of the last eight doubles point opportunities.
"It felt really good, both doubles and singles," said Christofi. "At the beginning I didn't think I was going to finish my singles, but then I had my chance and I was happy I was able to finish and get my team the win. It was really good."
Georgia maintained that momentum in singles with five first sets. No. 34-ranked Vivian Wolff made quick work in her match, defeating Racine 6-1, 6-2 to put Georgia's first singles win of the day on the board. Wolff pushed her overall record to 21-3 and leads the team with 13 dual match victories in singles. The sophomore from Frankfurt, Germany also is on a nine-match win streak.
ITA's No. 103 player Kowalski tacked on another victory to her stellar career start. The freshman from Chicago topped Meredith Roberts 6-0, 6-1 to remain unbeaten in singles with an overall record of 15-0 and 11-0 on court six duals. After a perfect first set, Kowalski dropped just one game in the second, winning the next six to seal her victory and push the Bulldogs' lead to 3-0.
Breezing through her first set with a 6-2 victory, Christofi overpowered junior Sara Lizariturry at the net in the final game to take the second set with a 6-3 victory. The junior from Athens, Greece, also notched her first clinch of the season in a match that featured familiar faces on the opposing team. Mississippi State's Antonaki, Magda Adaloglou and Rentouli all hail from Greece.
"I basically grew up with them in my junior tennis career so it was really fun seeing them and we had a good time," said Christofi.
Georgia returns to play Friday, March 29, against Alabama in Tuscaloosa with first serve at 5 p.m.. The Bulldogs then will head to No. 47 Auburn that Sunday with a 12 p.m. start.
