Friday, March 8
Athens, Ga.
3 P.M.
University of Georgia
4
vs
2
LSU
Photo by: Kristin M. Bradshaw
#2 Bulldogs Hold Off #15 Tigers in SEC Home Opener, 4-2
March 08, 2019 | Women's Tennis
#2 Georgia Defeats #15 LSU, 4-2
ATHENS, Ga. – Play dwindled down to the last two singles courts before the No. 2-ranked Georgia women's tennis team outlasted No. 15 LSU in the Bulldogs' Southeastern Conference home opener Friday evening.
For the third-straight match, the Bulldogs took the doubles point to head into singles with the 1-0 lead. Sophomore Vivian Wolff and freshman Lourdes Carle won in straight sets on courts four and three, respectively, to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead, but the Tigers won the other two courts that started play in the four-court Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts. The result then hinged on junior Elena Christofi in a third-set on court five and freshman Meg Kowalski who ended up powering past her opponent to clinch Georgia's 10th-straight win.
The Bulldogs improved to 10-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC, while LSU fell to 12-3 and 2-1 in the conference.
"It's just good to get another SEC win," Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. "It would've been nice to play outside, but the weather put us inside. It was good to see us get the doubles point. We got down 3-0 on court three and came back and won. It was the second week in a row our team did that, which shows good resiliency. We never got out of it, [you] got to keep fighting. In singles, I thought Elena [Christofi] did a great job of staying on that court and making it a little bit easier for Meg [Kowalski] to close it out. She didn't go away, she never does, and she just keeps fighting. That's really important. I think Lourdes [Carle] looked really solid and I think Vivian [Wolff] had a great day – her doubles and singles were just MVP stuff."
In doubles, Georgia's court two duo of Christofi/Wolff took care of business first, winning 6-2 over LSU's Anna Loughlan and Kennan Johnson. The Bulldog twosome broke the Tigers' serve to go up 3-1 and then later, up 5-2, got another break to seal the duo's third-straight win.
Almost simultaneously to court two's conclusion, Kowalski and Marta Gonzalez took their first lead on court three, 4-3, after starting the match 0-3. Tied at 4-all, Kowalski finished an array of shots at the net to go up 5-4, and then the Bulldog duo broke LSU's last serve to win 6-4 against Paris Corley and Taylor Bridges.
Going unfinished on court one doubles was the matchup between the No. 3-ranked LSU team of Eden Richardson/Jessica Golovin and Georgia's No. 74 Carle/Katarina Jokic. Carle and Jokic tied it at 5-all after being down 2-5 against the defending NCAA Doubles Champions.
In singles, both teams split the first sets on the four courts in play, which ended up completing in the same manner. Wolff, ranked No. 35 in ITA singles, defeated Johnson, a senior, 6-2, 6-1, to improve to 16-3 overall and 8-1 in duals. Next, Carle, ranked No. 95, dispatched Bridges, a sophomore, 6-4, 6-2, upping her season total to 12-5 overall and 7-3 in duals.
The score wasn't 3-0 for long as Golovin defeated No. 16 Gonzalez on court two, 6-4, 6-4. Attention at that time shifted to the marquee matchup occurring on court one between top-ranked Jokic and 15th-ranked Richardson – both reigning SEC All-Freshman Team recipients. Jokic pushed a third set after dropping the first, but the Tiger won out, 6-4, 5-7,6-4.
With the match at 3-2, the deciding point was either coming from Christofi or No. 95 Kowalski if Georgia were to win. Christofi fought it to a third set, but ultimately went unfinished as Kowalski methodically finished off sophomore Luba Vailyuk to win 7-5, 6-1. Kowalski, out of Chicago, has yet to lose a collegiate match, sitting at 12-0.
"We're excited, we're going to have our banquet tomorrow night so that'll be a lot of fun and then we've got to be ready for another battle," Wallace added. "Everyone's just going to come in and play lights out against us but we've got to love that."
The Bulldogs continue the home weekend schedule Sunday at 1 p.m. against Texas A&M.
For the latest on Georgia women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter (@UGAWomensTennis), Instagram (@ugawomenstennis) and on Facebook (UGA Women's Tennis).
For the third-straight match, the Bulldogs took the doubles point to head into singles with the 1-0 lead. Sophomore Vivian Wolff and freshman Lourdes Carle won in straight sets on courts four and three, respectively, to give the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead, but the Tigers won the other two courts that started play in the four-court Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts. The result then hinged on junior Elena Christofi in a third-set on court five and freshman Meg Kowalski who ended up powering past her opponent to clinch Georgia's 10th-straight win.
The Bulldogs improved to 10-0 overall and 2-0 in the SEC, while LSU fell to 12-3 and 2-1 in the conference.
"It's just good to get another SEC win," Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. "It would've been nice to play outside, but the weather put us inside. It was good to see us get the doubles point. We got down 3-0 on court three and came back and won. It was the second week in a row our team did that, which shows good resiliency. We never got out of it, [you] got to keep fighting. In singles, I thought Elena [Christofi] did a great job of staying on that court and making it a little bit easier for Meg [Kowalski] to close it out. She didn't go away, she never does, and she just keeps fighting. That's really important. I think Lourdes [Carle] looked really solid and I think Vivian [Wolff] had a great day – her doubles and singles were just MVP stuff."
In doubles, Georgia's court two duo of Christofi/Wolff took care of business first, winning 6-2 over LSU's Anna Loughlan and Kennan Johnson. The Bulldog twosome broke the Tigers' serve to go up 3-1 and then later, up 5-2, got another break to seal the duo's third-straight win.
Almost simultaneously to court two's conclusion, Kowalski and Marta Gonzalez took their first lead on court three, 4-3, after starting the match 0-3. Tied at 4-all, Kowalski finished an array of shots at the net to go up 5-4, and then the Bulldog duo broke LSU's last serve to win 6-4 against Paris Corley and Taylor Bridges.
Going unfinished on court one doubles was the matchup between the No. 3-ranked LSU team of Eden Richardson/Jessica Golovin and Georgia's No. 74 Carle/Katarina Jokic. Carle and Jokic tied it at 5-all after being down 2-5 against the defending NCAA Doubles Champions.
In singles, both teams split the first sets on the four courts in play, which ended up completing in the same manner. Wolff, ranked No. 35 in ITA singles, defeated Johnson, a senior, 6-2, 6-1, to improve to 16-3 overall and 8-1 in duals. Next, Carle, ranked No. 95, dispatched Bridges, a sophomore, 6-4, 6-2, upping her season total to 12-5 overall and 7-3 in duals.
The score wasn't 3-0 for long as Golovin defeated No. 16 Gonzalez on court two, 6-4, 6-4. Attention at that time shifted to the marquee matchup occurring on court one between top-ranked Jokic and 15th-ranked Richardson – both reigning SEC All-Freshman Team recipients. Jokic pushed a third set after dropping the first, but the Tiger won out, 6-4, 5-7,6-4.
With the match at 3-2, the deciding point was either coming from Christofi or No. 95 Kowalski if Georgia were to win. Christofi fought it to a third set, but ultimately went unfinished as Kowalski methodically finished off sophomore Luba Vailyuk to win 7-5, 6-1. Kowalski, out of Chicago, has yet to lose a collegiate match, sitting at 12-0.
"We're excited, we're going to have our banquet tomorrow night so that'll be a lot of fun and then we've got to be ready for another battle," Wallace added. "Everyone's just going to come in and play lights out against us but we've got to love that."
The Bulldogs continue the home weekend schedule Sunday at 1 p.m. against Texas A&M.
For the latest on Georgia women's tennis, follow the team on Twitter (@UGAWomensTennis), Instagram (@ugawomenstennis) and on Facebook (UGA Women's Tennis).
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