University of Georgia Athletics
Kowalski Wants To ‘Leave It All Out There’
May 17, 2023 | Women's Tennis, The Frierson Files
Kowalski Wants To 'Leave It All Out There'
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Meg Kowalski entered the final postseason of her stellar Georgia women's tennis career knowing that this was it. There are no plans to pursue the sport professionally. Tennis has taken a physical toll on her body and she looks forward to chucking her racket bag in a closet for a good, long while.
"I've never been through this, where I'm finishing my tennis career, so I'm taking it day by day and enjoying the moment," she said, later adding: "This has, seriously, been the best five years of my life. And 30 years from now, I'll continue to say that."
But before she says goodbye to tennis and before her final match as a Bulldog ends, the fifth-year player is going to give everything she has for the team, athletic department and university that she loves so much.
"I'm playing pretty well considering my fifth-year body and the injuries I've had to work through," she said. "They'll probably have to take me out in a wheelchair for my last match. That's how beat up I'll be. I want to leave it all out there. I don't want to look back and be like, I had a little left in the tank."
Kowalski laughed at and then embraced the idea of having to crawl to the net, bleeding from every limb, to shake her opponent's hand at the end of her last point. Or maybe associate head coach Drake Bernstein, recently named Georgia's next head coach, has to carry her.
"I definitely can see myself crawling to the net to give my last handshake ever," she said. "It would be an injustice not to go out that way.
"And if Drake carried me to the net, that would cap it all."
Kowalski's Georgia career will end where her freshman season did, at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla. Back in 2019, during her magical freshman season, Kowalski and the Bulldogs, already winners of the ITA National Indoor Championship, advanced to the finals of the NCAAs before falling to Stanford. Georgia is hoping for a happier ending this time.
It's immeasurable, yes, but not hyperbole to say that no one has ever loved being a Georgia Bulldog more than this scrappy, sweet, talented and determined Chicago native who arrived in Athens by way of Smith Stearns Tennis Academy in Hilton Head, S.C.
"It truly is a family and you're really wanting to do it for the girl next to you," Kowalski said. "It's so enjoyable and so special for me and all of the girls to get to wear that 'G' on our chests. We know that it means something special."
"She's been an unbelievable player from the minute she got here, and when you have somebody that loves the Dawgs as much as she does, she's just willing to lay it all out there on the court in every match she's ever played, to try to get just one more point for Georgia," said Georgia coach Jeff Wallace who will be going out with Kowalski, retiring after 38 seasons and six national championships.
"Win or lose, she's going to put it all out there. As a coach, that's all you can ever ask."
Kowalski's farewell tour is already off to the best start possible. Not only did she and the Bulldogs win the SEC Tournament last month, knocking off No. 2 Texas A&M in the final to avenge Georgia's only conference loss during the regular season, but Kowalski delivered the clinching win at the No. 5 singles spot. And for the SEC cherry on top: Kowalski was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
"Man, I was so excited to win that match and clinch it, especially over A&M, who we lost to, barely, in the regular season," she said. "It was also a huge relief. My biggest thing is, I do not want to let this team down. ...
"Getting to celebrate with your team after winning something like that, it's one of the best things in sports."
After that, Georgia stormed through the first two rounds of the NCAAs, beating both Florida A&M and Florida State 4-0, and then, in the Super Regional, the final home match of Kowalski's career, the Bulldogs knocked off No. 13 Oklahoma in a match that was much closer than the 4-1 final score.
Kowalski said after beating Florida State that Wallace's retirement announcement was, in a way, good for her. It's taken any thoughts she had about finishing her career and replaced them with a drive to finish strong for Wallace.
"We want to send him out on top — he deserves that," she said. "Maybe it has taken some pressure off me. Instead of thinking that this could be my last match, I'm thinking, I want to do well for Jeff."
Kowalski and Georgia's next chance to win for Wallace is Thursday at 5 p.m., when the No. 4-seeded Bulldogs (25-4) take on No. 5 Michigan (25-3) in the quarterfinals. Kowalski will enter the quarters having won her last 12 completed singles matches.
As a freshman, Kowalski burst onto the scene at No. 6 singles like no one before her. A couple of wins in a row to start her career became 10, then a dozen, then 20. By the time her freshman year ended, she was 21-1 in dual matches and 25-1 overall — the only loss coming in the NCAA team final.
Many more wins have followed. Overall, Kowalski has won 110 singles matches at Georgia. In her final season, she's 27-6 overall, 18-5 in dual matches, and 25-9 in doubles, including 17-6 with Mell Reasco mostly at the No. 2 spot.
"It might be hard from the outside to see how much she's grown over her five years, but just the way she's always gone about things, she's always looking to be better," Bernstein said.
And last month, she received the Clifford Lewis Leadership Award, which is given to a UGA female student-athlete that always puts the team above herself.
"You know she came in with this character and this leadership ability," Bernstein said, "but to see it blossom for five years and see where she is now, ready to go out into the real world, it's pretty special."
Yes, the real world. Kowalski, who wants to work in sports business, is ready for whatever's next. She plans to leave Athens, but she'll be back to visit — and maybe more.
"I love this place and this will always be home, and it will always have a special place in my heart," she said, "but I think at this stage in my life, this new season I'm entering, I feel like I need to go somewhere and grow and be uncomfortable. That's not to say I won't come back in X amount of years, but I think I need to go away for a while.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to end up back here in some shape or form. Gosh, I feel sort of obligated to give back to what this school and this community have given to me."
From start to finish, Kowalski has given plenty. She's given her all.
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Meg Kowalski entered the final postseason of her stellar Georgia women's tennis career knowing that this was it. There are no plans to pursue the sport professionally. Tennis has taken a physical toll on her body and she looks forward to chucking her racket bag in a closet for a good, long while.
"I've never been through this, where I'm finishing my tennis career, so I'm taking it day by day and enjoying the moment," she said, later adding: "This has, seriously, been the best five years of my life. And 30 years from now, I'll continue to say that."
But before she says goodbye to tennis and before her final match as a Bulldog ends, the fifth-year player is going to give everything she has for the team, athletic department and university that she loves so much.
"I'm playing pretty well considering my fifth-year body and the injuries I've had to work through," she said. "They'll probably have to take me out in a wheelchair for my last match. That's how beat up I'll be. I want to leave it all out there. I don't want to look back and be like, I had a little left in the tank."
Kowalski laughed at and then embraced the idea of having to crawl to the net, bleeding from every limb, to shake her opponent's hand at the end of her last point. Or maybe associate head coach Drake Bernstein, recently named Georgia's next head coach, has to carry her.
"I definitely can see myself crawling to the net to give my last handshake ever," she said. "It would be an injustice not to go out that way.
"And if Drake carried me to the net, that would cap it all."
Kowalski's Georgia career will end where her freshman season did, at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla. Back in 2019, during her magical freshman season, Kowalski and the Bulldogs, already winners of the ITA National Indoor Championship, advanced to the finals of the NCAAs before falling to Stanford. Georgia is hoping for a happier ending this time.
It's immeasurable, yes, but not hyperbole to say that no one has ever loved being a Georgia Bulldog more than this scrappy, sweet, talented and determined Chicago native who arrived in Athens by way of Smith Stearns Tennis Academy in Hilton Head, S.C.
"It truly is a family and you're really wanting to do it for the girl next to you," Kowalski said. "It's so enjoyable and so special for me and all of the girls to get to wear that 'G' on our chests. We know that it means something special."
"She's been an unbelievable player from the minute she got here, and when you have somebody that loves the Dawgs as much as she does, she's just willing to lay it all out there on the court in every match she's ever played, to try to get just one more point for Georgia," said Georgia coach Jeff Wallace who will be going out with Kowalski, retiring after 38 seasons and six national championships.
"Win or lose, she's going to put it all out there. As a coach, that's all you can ever ask."
Kowalski's farewell tour is already off to the best start possible. Not only did she and the Bulldogs win the SEC Tournament last month, knocking off No. 2 Texas A&M in the final to avenge Georgia's only conference loss during the regular season, but Kowalski delivered the clinching win at the No. 5 singles spot. And for the SEC cherry on top: Kowalski was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
"Man, I was so excited to win that match and clinch it, especially over A&M, who we lost to, barely, in the regular season," she said. "It was also a huge relief. My biggest thing is, I do not want to let this team down. ...
"Getting to celebrate with your team after winning something like that, it's one of the best things in sports."
After that, Georgia stormed through the first two rounds of the NCAAs, beating both Florida A&M and Florida State 4-0, and then, in the Super Regional, the final home match of Kowalski's career, the Bulldogs knocked off No. 13 Oklahoma in a match that was much closer than the 4-1 final score.
Kowalski said after beating Florida State that Wallace's retirement announcement was, in a way, good for her. It's taken any thoughts she had about finishing her career and replaced them with a drive to finish strong for Wallace.
"We want to send him out on top — he deserves that," she said. "Maybe it has taken some pressure off me. Instead of thinking that this could be my last match, I'm thinking, I want to do well for Jeff."
Kowalski and Georgia's next chance to win for Wallace is Thursday at 5 p.m., when the No. 4-seeded Bulldogs (25-4) take on No. 5 Michigan (25-3) in the quarterfinals. Kowalski will enter the quarters having won her last 12 completed singles matches.
As a freshman, Kowalski burst onto the scene at No. 6 singles like no one before her. A couple of wins in a row to start her career became 10, then a dozen, then 20. By the time her freshman year ended, she was 21-1 in dual matches and 25-1 overall — the only loss coming in the NCAA team final.
Many more wins have followed. Overall, Kowalski has won 110 singles matches at Georgia. In her final season, she's 27-6 overall, 18-5 in dual matches, and 25-9 in doubles, including 17-6 with Mell Reasco mostly at the No. 2 spot.
"It might be hard from the outside to see how much she's grown over her five years, but just the way she's always gone about things, she's always looking to be better," Bernstein said.
And last month, she received the Clifford Lewis Leadership Award, which is given to a UGA female student-athlete that always puts the team above herself.
"You know she came in with this character and this leadership ability," Bernstein said, "but to see it blossom for five years and see where she is now, ready to go out into the real world, it's pretty special."
Yes, the real world. Kowalski, who wants to work in sports business, is ready for whatever's next. She plans to leave Athens, but she'll be back to visit — and maybe more.
"I love this place and this will always be home, and it will always have a special place in my heart," she said, "but I think at this stage in my life, this new season I'm entering, I feel like I need to go somewhere and grow and be uncomfortable. That's not to say I won't come back in X amount of years, but I think I need to go away for a while.
"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to end up back here in some shape or form. Gosh, I feel sort of obligated to give back to what this school and this community have given to me."
From start to finish, Kowalski has given plenty. She's given her all.
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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