University of Georgia
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Mississippi State
Georgia Wins Outright SEC Championship
April 13, 2023 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – The fourth-ranked Georgia men's tennis team clinched its 11th-straight conference win and the outright Southeastern Conference Championship, defeating No. 12 Mississippi State, 6-1, at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on Thursday.
Redshirt freshman and No. 3-ranked Ethan Quinn clinched Georgia's 32nd Southeastern Conference regular season title with his 16th win over a ranked opponent. The Bulldogs have also won 10 league tournament championships for 42 total titles.
With Thursday's victory, the Bulldogs from Athens improve to 17-5 overall this season and a perfect 11-0 in conference play. Mississippi State falls to 19-6, 7-5.
"You have to give it to these guys for really coming back out even after dropping sets and doing it the right way," head coach Manny Diaz said. "They had to be constructive. Our guys are disciplined. These guys didn't want to share our 42nd championship with anybody."
In doubles, Georgia's No. 1 duo of Trent Bryde and Quinn went down a break 4-2, but the Bulldogs stormed out to 4-1 leads on courts two and three. Philip Henning and Teodor Giusca ousted Mississippi State's No. 82-ranked Ewen Lumsden and Peter Jovanovic, 6-2, for the Bulldogs' first win of the day.
Bryde and Quinn fell to Nemanja Malesevic and Michael Novansky by a 6-2 score on court one. MSU's No. 3 combo of Gregor Ramskogler and Benito Sanchez Martinez fought off a match point at 5-4 to even the contest up at 5-5 with Georgia's Blake Croyder and Britton Johnston. At 6-6, the two teams went into a tiebreaker at court three, where MSU's tandem held on for the 7-6 (5) victory to clinch the doubles point.
The Bulldogs came back and dominated in singles with straight-set wins by every Georgia player to clinch the match and maintain their undefeated conference record.
Croyder's 6-2, 6-1 win against No. 95 Edwin Lumsden marked his 12th victory over a ranked opponent and 100th career singles triumph. He is now three wins away from entering the top-20 career record chart in program history.
"It feels amazing," Croyder said. "It did take me five years to do it given our COVID year, but I'm very glad to hit that mark. There are plenty of amazing players that have made that happen and I'm glad I can be one of them."
Next up, Georgia hosts Ole Miss at 1 p.m. Saturday to conclude regular season play, with the Senior Day ceremony set to begin at 12:45 p.m.
Keep up with all the latest news and information on the Bulldogs by following UGA Men's Tennis on social media on Twitter and Instagram @UGATennis, on Facebook @UGAMensTennis, and online at GeorgiaDogs.com.
Tennis Match Results
Mississippi State vs Georgia
Apr 13, 2023 at Athens, Ga.
(Dan Magill Tennis Complex)
#4 Georgia 6, #12 Mississippi State 1
Singles Results
1. #4 Ethan Quinn (UGA) def. #104 Nemanja Malesevic (MS) 6-2, 7-5
2. #19 Philip Henning (UGA) def. Petar Jovanovic (MS) 7-6 (3), 6-3
3. Trent Bryde (UGA) def. #112 Carles Hernandez (MS) 6-3, 6-4
4. #105 Blake Croyder (UGA) def. #95 Ewen Lumsden (MS) 6-2, 6-1
5. Miguel Perez Pena (UGA) def. B. Sanchez Martinez (MS) 7-6 (4), 6-4
6. Teodor Giusca (UGA) def. Gregor Ramskogler (MS) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles Results
1. Nemanja Malesevic/Michal Novansky (MS) def. #5 Trent Bryde/Ethan Quinn (UGA) 6-2
2. Teodor Giusca/Philip Henning (UGA) def. #82 Ewen Lumsden/Petar Jovanovic (MS) 6-2
3. Gregor Ramskogler/B. Sanchez Martinez (MS) def. Blake Croyder/Britton Johnston (UGA) 7-6 (7-5)
Match Notes:
Mississippi State 19-6; National ranking #12
Georgia 17-5; National ranking #4
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (4,3,6,1,2,5)
Official: Karen Badger-Mabry; Time: 2:41; Attendance: 768
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Players Mentioned
