University of Georgia Athletics
‘This Belongs To Everybody’
April 16, 2024 | Women's Tennis, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
The setting was coincidental but fitting.
Thirty minutes or so after watching his Georgia women's tennis team thump Kentucky in the No. 6-ranked Bulldogs' season finale on Sunday, clinching a share of the SEC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed at this week's conference tournament in Athens, first-year head coach Drake Bernstein sat down for an interview in the team's well-stocked trophy room.
When you've been one of the top programs in collegiate tennis for decades, the hardware — namely national and conference championship trophies and awards — adds up. On Sunday, Bernstein's Bulldogs added the first championship of his head-coaching career. It's a notable achievement, but then, from his playing days on the men's team (2008-11) to his 11 seasons working under legendary women's coach Jeff Wallace, Bernstein has been a part of a lot of championships.
As a player, Bernstein helped the Georgia men's team win the 2008 SEC and NCAA titles. The Bulldogs also shared an SEC title in 2011, his senior year. In 2013, Bernstein's first season as Wallace's assistant, Georgia won an SEC championship — and did so again in 2019 and 2021. The Bulldog women also won the ITA National Indoor Championship in 2019.
"I wouldn't necessarily say this is my first because in playing, assistant coaching and head coaching, in all of those different scenarios, it's the entire group putting in work," said Bernstein, who grew up about 30 minutes outside of Athens, in Winder, and is married to former Georgia gymnast Cassidy McComb, who was part of two national championship teams, was the 2008 SEC Freshman of the Year and the 2011 SEC all-around champion.
"I'm the head coach, but I have a great group of players, great assistants, the best support staff in the country, and just a lot of hands go into making this happen. That's why I don't necessarily look at it like it's my first. This belongs to everybody."
In Wallace's 38-year career, his teams won more than 800 matches (he's one of only two women's coaches to ever hit that milestone), two NCAA championships, four ITA National Indoor titles and a combined 20 SEC championships (11 regular season, nine tournament).
It sure seems like a tough act to follow, but not if you're Bernstein, who took over for Wallace last June. What Georgia women's tennis has been for the past decade or so, his fingerprints are all over it. He isn't an outsider coming in to take over for an all-time great, he's been one of the leaders of a program that has finished ranked in the top 7 nine times since 2013, and it would likely be 10 if the pandemic hadn't shut down the 2020 season.
If Bernstein sounds a little blasé about winning a conference championship, he's very much not. He knows the work and sacrifice that everyone involved put in to earn that trophy, and the enormous smile on his face after Georgia swept the Wildcats made clear that it was another great day, a really great day, to be a Bulldog.
"Make no mistake about it, it feels great," Bernstein said of the SEC title, which Georgia shares with Texas A&M. The Bulldogs got the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament, taking place at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex starting Wednesday (the Bulldogs will play in the quarterfinals Friday at 3 p.m.), due to their head-to-head win over the Aggies.
"I'm thrilled, I'm ecstatic, I think it's a terrific achievement for the program, and any time you can bring an SEC trophy to Athens, it's a big deal."
On Jan., 21, Bernstein's Bulldogs made their dual-match debut, playing at top-ranked and defending national champion North Carolina. A 7-0 sweep by the Tar Heels, now ranked No. 5, was the result. History will show that Bernstein's first career win as head coach was a 4-0 sweep of South Florida on Jan. 26, and win No. 2 was a 4-1 victory over South Carolina (now ranked No. 19) the next day. Those wins were followed by tight, 4-3 losses at Texas (currently ranked No. 7) and to Ohio State (15th) in the ITA National Indoor.
Bernstein was as prepared as he could be when he took over for Wallace, having seen and done pretty much everything in his years as the associate head coach. But the start to Georgia's season was indeed new territory for Bernstein, as well as associate head coach Jarryd Chaplin and assistant coach Will Reynolds.
How Georgia responded to that 2-3 start, in particular those tough losses in early February, showed Bernstein his team's character and toughness.
In the consolation bracket of the ITA Indoor, Georgia beat Florida (currently ranked No. 14) and then Texas A&M (now ranked No. 12), with whom the Bulldogs went on to share the SEC regular-season title. Those two wins were the start of an 11-match win streak, one that lasted until March 31, when Georgia fell 4-3 at No. 16 Auburn.
"To go on and play those (ITA Indoor) back-draw matches strong, against Texas A&M, against Florida, in those two days, it really said a lot about who we were going to be," he said.
And how has Georgia responded to that tight loss to Auburn that kept the Bulldogs from going undefeated in SEC play? The Bulldogs swept Mississippi State, swept Ole Miss, swept Vanderbilt, and then wrapped the regular season with a sweep of Kentucky on Sunday. After winning the doubles point against the Wildcats, Georgia's 4-6 singles players — Aysegul Mert, Guillermina Grant and Mai Nirundorn — not only won to clinch the match, the trio lost a combined six games in six sets.
"Today was a great day," Grant said after Sunday's win. "It's great to help win Drake's first SEC (championship) as head coach. It's very positive for the team and for him, too."
Now comes the pursuit of more hardware, more trophies, more special moments for a tight-knit team that heads into the postseason playing at a very high level.
"I feel like I'm learning every day. ... Jarryd and I were talking about this: I feel like from August to now, we've covered a lot of ground," Bernstein said. "It's just nice working with others that are hungry and have something to prove. I feel like the learning isn't going to slow down anytime soon."
Staff Writer
The setting was coincidental but fitting.
Thirty minutes or so after watching his Georgia women's tennis team thump Kentucky in the No. 6-ranked Bulldogs' season finale on Sunday, clinching a share of the SEC regular-season title and the No. 1 seed at this week's conference tournament in Athens, first-year head coach Drake Bernstein sat down for an interview in the team's well-stocked trophy room.
When you've been one of the top programs in collegiate tennis for decades, the hardware — namely national and conference championship trophies and awards — adds up. On Sunday, Bernstein's Bulldogs added the first championship of his head-coaching career. It's a notable achievement, but then, from his playing days on the men's team (2008-11) to his 11 seasons working under legendary women's coach Jeff Wallace, Bernstein has been a part of a lot of championships.
As a player, Bernstein helped the Georgia men's team win the 2008 SEC and NCAA titles. The Bulldogs also shared an SEC title in 2011, his senior year. In 2013, Bernstein's first season as Wallace's assistant, Georgia won an SEC championship — and did so again in 2019 and 2021. The Bulldog women also won the ITA National Indoor Championship in 2019.
"I wouldn't necessarily say this is my first because in playing, assistant coaching and head coaching, in all of those different scenarios, it's the entire group putting in work," said Bernstein, who grew up about 30 minutes outside of Athens, in Winder, and is married to former Georgia gymnast Cassidy McComb, who was part of two national championship teams, was the 2008 SEC Freshman of the Year and the 2011 SEC all-around champion.
"I'm the head coach, but I have a great group of players, great assistants, the best support staff in the country, and just a lot of hands go into making this happen. That's why I don't necessarily look at it like it's my first. This belongs to everybody."
In Wallace's 38-year career, his teams won more than 800 matches (he's one of only two women's coaches to ever hit that milestone), two NCAA championships, four ITA National Indoor titles and a combined 20 SEC championships (11 regular season, nine tournament).
It sure seems like a tough act to follow, but not if you're Bernstein, who took over for Wallace last June. What Georgia women's tennis has been for the past decade or so, his fingerprints are all over it. He isn't an outsider coming in to take over for an all-time great, he's been one of the leaders of a program that has finished ranked in the top 7 nine times since 2013, and it would likely be 10 if the pandemic hadn't shut down the 2020 season.
If Bernstein sounds a little blasé about winning a conference championship, he's very much not. He knows the work and sacrifice that everyone involved put in to earn that trophy, and the enormous smile on his face after Georgia swept the Wildcats made clear that it was another great day, a really great day, to be a Bulldog.
"Make no mistake about it, it feels great," Bernstein said of the SEC title, which Georgia shares with Texas A&M. The Bulldogs got the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament, taking place at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex starting Wednesday (the Bulldogs will play in the quarterfinals Friday at 3 p.m.), due to their head-to-head win over the Aggies.
"I'm thrilled, I'm ecstatic, I think it's a terrific achievement for the program, and any time you can bring an SEC trophy to Athens, it's a big deal."
On Jan., 21, Bernstein's Bulldogs made their dual-match debut, playing at top-ranked and defending national champion North Carolina. A 7-0 sweep by the Tar Heels, now ranked No. 5, was the result. History will show that Bernstein's first career win as head coach was a 4-0 sweep of South Florida on Jan. 26, and win No. 2 was a 4-1 victory over South Carolina (now ranked No. 19) the next day. Those wins were followed by tight, 4-3 losses at Texas (currently ranked No. 7) and to Ohio State (15th) in the ITA National Indoor.
Bernstein was as prepared as he could be when he took over for Wallace, having seen and done pretty much everything in his years as the associate head coach. But the start to Georgia's season was indeed new territory for Bernstein, as well as associate head coach Jarryd Chaplin and assistant coach Will Reynolds.
How Georgia responded to that 2-3 start, in particular those tough losses in early February, showed Bernstein his team's character and toughness.
In the consolation bracket of the ITA Indoor, Georgia beat Florida (currently ranked No. 14) and then Texas A&M (now ranked No. 12), with whom the Bulldogs went on to share the SEC regular-season title. Those two wins were the start of an 11-match win streak, one that lasted until March 31, when Georgia fell 4-3 at No. 16 Auburn.
"To go on and play those (ITA Indoor) back-draw matches strong, against Texas A&M, against Florida, in those two days, it really said a lot about who we were going to be," he said.
And how has Georgia responded to that tight loss to Auburn that kept the Bulldogs from going undefeated in SEC play? The Bulldogs swept Mississippi State, swept Ole Miss, swept Vanderbilt, and then wrapped the regular season with a sweep of Kentucky on Sunday. After winning the doubles point against the Wildcats, Georgia's 4-6 singles players — Aysegul Mert, Guillermina Grant and Mai Nirundorn — not only won to clinch the match, the trio lost a combined six games in six sets.
"Today was a great day," Grant said after Sunday's win. "It's great to help win Drake's first SEC (championship) as head coach. It's very positive for the team and for him, too."
Now comes the pursuit of more hardware, more trophies, more special moments for a tight-knit team that heads into the postseason playing at a very high level.
"I feel like I'm learning every day. ... Jarryd and I were talking about this: I feel like from August to now, we've covered a lot of ground," Bernstein said. "It's just nice working with others that are hungry and have something to prove. I feel like the learning isn't going to slow down anytime soon."
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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