University of Georgia Athletics
University of Georgia
Kentucky
No. 3 Bulldogs Face Off Against Two Ranked Foes
March 25, 2021 | Women's Tennis
The Bulldogs enjoyed a free weekend from action after defeating No. 19 LSU in their last outing, 4-0. Georgia is 10-1 overall and 6-0 in conference play, the only squad to be undefeated in SEC competition.
Senior Katarina Jokic was named SEC Player of the Week for the fourth time this season on March 17, becoming the first to win the award four-times in one season since the weekly awards began in 2000.
In the new ITA rankings, Georgia has five girls ranked in singles; senior Katarina Jokic tops the rankings as the No. 1 singles player in the country, junior Meg Kowalski made the biggest leap going from No. 60 to her now career high No. 13, sophomore Lea Ma comes in at No. 45, senior Morgan Coppoc at No. 73 and graduate Marta Gonzalez rounds out the Bulldogs at No. 104. In doubles, Jokic and freshman Ariana Arseneault went from being unranked in the pre-season poll to No. 4 and Jokic and Ania Hertel stayed in the top-25 at No. 25. As a team, the Bulldogs stayed at No. 3 in this week's ITA rankings continuing their streak of 62 straight weeks ranked in the top-10 as well as debuting at No. 3 in the USTA poll who released their first set of rankings on March 24.The Wildcats will host Georgia as the No. 23 team in the ITA rankings and the No. 22 team in the USTA rankings. The Wildcats boast a 12-3 record overall and a 4-3 record in conference play with wins over Arkansas, Texas A&M and Alabama. Georgia leads the all-time series against Kentucky 37-10. Last time these two squads faced off was in 2019 with the Bulldogs defeating Kentucky 4-0 in Lexington. Kentucky has three ranked singles players in Akvile Parazinskaite leading the way at No. 42, Lesedi Jacobs at No. 109 and Carlota Molina Megias at No. 119. In doubles, Parazinskaite and Fiona Arrese are undefeated and come in at No. 6 followed by Carla Girbau and Elizabeth Stevens at No. 66.
The Commodores will host Georgia as the No. 16 team in the ITA rankings and the USTA rankings. Vanderbilt has an overall record of 12-3 and is 4-3 in conference play with wins over Kentucky, Auburn and Alabama. Georgia leads the all-time series against Vanderbilt 35-13. Last time the two faced off was in 2019 at the NCAA Tournament where the Bulldogs defeated Vanderbilt 4-3. Georgia defeated the Commodores 4-1 in the regular season that same year. Vanderbilt has one ranked singles player in Christina Rosca who comes in at No. 54. In doubles, Emma Kurtz and Holly Staff are ranked No. 31 as well as Kurts and Marcella Cruz coming in at No. 56.
Looking ahead, the Bulldogs will finish their season with four-straight home matches before the SEC Tournament in late April beginning with Missouri on April 2.
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Players Mentioned
