Women's Tennis - History - University of Georgia Athletics

SEC Honors
Letterwinners
Records
NCAA History

Season Wrap-Ups
2018-19
2017-18
2016-17
2015-16
2014-15
2013-14
2012-13
2011-12
2010-11
2009-10
2008-09
2007-08
2006-07
2005-06

The Georgia tennis program began from humble origins in 1966 as a club sport under Jo Ann Kemp. It was established under the auspices of the AIAW in the 1973-74 season and later the NCAA in 1982-83. Through the 2023 season, the Bulldogs have amassed an all-time record of 998-274 for a .785 winning percentage.

The first head coach for the program was Jane Kuykendoll, and she directed the team for four seasons (55-16). Greg McGarity took over in 1978, and the team won the GAIAW State Tournament earning the program's first post-season berth, qualifying for the AIAW Regionals.

McGarity led the program until 1981, posting a 51-44 career mark. (Note. On Aug. 13, 2010, McGarity was named Georgia's athletic director). Lee Meyers served as the third coach (1982-83). In 1982, Georgia made the AIAW Nationals. After Meyers, Cissie Donigan was Georgia's fourth coach, going 34-29 in two seasons.

It was during this time that Georgia had its first All-American, Lisa Spain. She won the 1984 NCAA singles title and also was the HONDA/Broderick Award winner for tennis.

Jeff Wallace became the fifth coach in school history in 1986 and compiled one of the greatest ones in the history of the sport with a legendary career that stretched 38 years, ending in 2023. His teams played for a national championship in five different decades. During his tenure, Georgia won six national titles (four ITA Indoor and two NCAA Outdoor). He amassed an 814-198 record for an amazing .804 winning percentage. He led Georgia to its first trip to the NCAAs in 1987, the Bulldogs advanced to the finals. It would be one of a combined 14 national championship matches (indoor & outdoor) the Bulldogs would be involved in under his watch.

In 1994, Georgia dominated the collegiate tennis world going 27-2. They won the SEC championship (14-0) as well as the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Title, and ultimately the NCAA Championship as they defeated Stanford 5-4 in the finals before a crowd of 3,117 in Athens.

Angela Lettiere, the 1994 College Tennis Player of the Year and recipient of the prestigious HONDA/Broderick Award for tennis, led the Bulldogs to their first NCAA team title, and a few days later, she won the singles title. In 2005, Lettiere was inducted into Georgia's Circle of Honor, the highest honor a Bulldog student-athlete or coach can achieve.

In 1995, Georgia won its second straight USTA/ITA National Team Indoor title. They were ranked No. 1 for almost the entire year before finishing No. 3 after reaching the semifinals of the NCAAs. In 1998, the Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the fourth time in school history.

In 2000, Georgia claimed its second NCAA title, dethroning Stanford 5-4 and ending a 48-match Cardinal winning streak. Georgia won the national championship on the campus of Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif.

The following year, the Bulldogs won the SEC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA semifinals. In 2002, Georgia captured the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor title, the SEC championship and went undefeated during the regular season for the first time since 1975. The Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA semifinals for the sixth time in school history and finished up 26-2. In 2004, Georgia went 20-5, advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals and ended the year ranked seventh nationally. Georgia continues its tradition, making NCAA appearances and earning a final ITA ranking among the nation's Top 25.

In 2007, Georgia won both the SEC regular season and the SEC Tournament, finishing with a 24-2 overall record and final ITA ranking of No. 4. The Bulldogs repeated as SEC Tournament Champions in 2008 and ended with a final ITA ranking of No. 8. In 2009, Georgia claimed another SEC title and an impressive third straight SEC Tournament crown. The Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Final Four and a final ITA ranking of No. 3.

In 2010, Georgia's Chelsey Gullickson captured the NCAA singles title on her home courts, joining Spain and Lettiere as NCAA champions. In 2011, Georgia made the most improvement of any team in the final top 20. The Bulldogs began the season ranked No. 18 and ended the year at No. 8.

In 2011, Georgia finished the season ranked No. 8 with a 19-5 mark while the 2012 squad posted a 24-5 record and a No. 6 final ranking. The 2011, 2012 and 2013 teams advanced to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships. The 2013 squad won the program's eighth SEC Title.

In 2014, the Bulldogs went 24-5 en route to collecting their seventh SEC Tournament Title and reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships for the fourth-straight year. Wallace garnered ITA Regional Coach of the Year honors for the 2014 team that finished ranked No. 4 and went into the NCAA Tournament with the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament No. 1 seed. The following year, Georgia reached the finals of the ITA National Team Indoors and the SEC Tournament, prior to finishing in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships with a 24-7 overall record and No. 5 final ranking.

In 2016, Georgia registered a 22-5 record, reached the semifinals of the ITA National Team Indoors, the final of the SEC Tournament and the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships. The 2017 team went 19-6 with a final ranking of No. 6 and an appearance in the round of 16 of the NCAA Championships.

The 2018 Bulldogs reached the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time since 2015, finishing with the No. 7 ranking and an 18-7 overall record. The next year, Georgia experienced one of its best seasons.

The 2018-19 campaign started with Katarina Jokic winning the Oracle/ITA National Fall Singles Championship, becoming the fifth Bulldog to win a singles grand slam and the first since Chelsey Gullickson won the NCAA title in 2010. The title shot Jokic up to the No. 1 singles ranking to start the spring dual season in which she and the Bulldogs picked up right where she left off. The No. 5-seeded Bulldogs defeated No. 14 N.C. State, No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 1 Stanford and No. 3 North Carolina to win the ITA National Team Indoor Championship in Seattle, Washington. Jokic was named Most Outstanding Player and All-Tournament No. 1 singles - joining Gullickson as the only other Bulldogs to do so. The team title marked Georgia's sixth all time and fourth USTA/ITA Indoor title. Georgia proceeded to have the program's second undefeated regular season and third within the Southeastern Conference to win the SEC outright. It marked Georgia's 10th SEC regular season title and first since 2013. The Bulldogs' single season program-record win streak of 23 matches was snapped in the SEC Tournament Final. After being ranking No. 1 for majority of the season, the Bulldogs obtained the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In the first year of the NCAA "Super Regional" format, Georgia defeated No. 16 Michigan to move on to the program's second-straight quarterfinals appearance and a trip to the final site of the NCAAs in Orlando. The final site was located at the new USTA National Campus and for the first time ever the NCAAs experienced an unprecedented amount of exposure with the Tennis Channel covering the team and individual competition. Georgia defeated Vanderbilt to advance to the NCAA semifinals for the first time in five years, and then beat Duke to advance to the program's fourth-ever trip to the NCAA Finals. Avenging its earlier season loss in the ITA National Team Indoors, the Stanford Cardinal defeated Georgia for the 2019 NCAA Championship, finalizing Georgia's season at 28-2 with the No. 2 final ranking. A day later, Jokic was back on the court in the NCAA Singles Championships where she finished as the runner-up, while also reaching the quarterfinals in the NCAA Doubles Championships. Jokic concluded the season ranked No. 1 in ITA singles, named ITA National Player of the Year, and was a finalist for the Honda Award.

Georgia would add a regular season SEC title and tournament crown in 2021 after going 23-2 overall and 13-0 in league action. The final SEC Tournament title under Wallace would come in 2023 as the Bulldogs posted a 26-5 record including 12-1 in the SEC. Under Wallace, Georgia finished with a top five national ranking 17 times and ended the year in the top 10 a total of 32 times.

On May 8, 2023, former Bulldog national champion Drake Bernstein, who served as an associate head coach under Wallace for a decade, was promoted to head coach.

The Bulldogs benefit from one of the best facilities in all of collegiate tennis in the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. The complex has played host to the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships eight times (1994, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2017). Since 2006, the NCAA Tennis Championships have been combined at one site and under this format, Georgia has played host five times (2007, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2017).