From
GeorgiaDogs.com: KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 6 Georgia women’s tennis team capped an impressive regular season with a 6-1 win over No. 24
Tennessee to clinch the 2007 Southeastern Conference title, the program’s seventh conference crown and first since 2002. They joined the Georgia men’s tennis team, who clinched the SEC title last weekend, for a Bulldog sweep of the conference tennis crowns.
With a team featuring only three remaining letterwinners from the 2006 squad and five newcomers, the Bulldogs concluded a regular season that saw them amass an 18-1 overall record and a 10-1 mark in SEC action with the lone blemish coming to
Auburn.
“I’m so excited for this team,” Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. “It’s been a tremendous season for us and I can’t think of any better way to cap it off than with a conference championship in the manner we did it in.”
The Bulldogs used a ferocious come-from-behind attack, sweeping all six singles courts after dropping doubles to beat the Lady Vols in a match moved indoors to the Goodfriend Tennis Center because of rain. The Lady Vols dropped to 11-9 (6-5 SEC) with the loss.
Georgia had control of the doubles point with a 7-4 lead on court one after the teams split on two and three. But the Lady Vols stormed back for a 9-7 victory and seized the early lead. Then the Bulldogs grabbed back the momentum and won four straight singles matches to clinch the win.
“It was very fitting that we had to fight the way we did to win this match,” Wallace said. “That’s how this season has gone for us – we’ve had to fight for everything we’ve gotten. That just makes this success that much more rewarding for us. I’m so proud of this team.”
No. 33-ranked Monika Dancevic capped her impressive regular season with another win to ignite the Georgia rally over Conner Vogel on court two, 6-0, 6-2. The sophomore finished the regular season 15-1 in dual matches and a perfect 14-0 at No. 2 singles.
Kelley Hyndman followed with a win on court four over Samantha Orlin to put the Bulldogs back in the lead, 2-1. No. 61 Yvette Hyndman extended the lead to 3-2 with a three-set win over Caitlin Whoriskey at No. 3 singles.
Seventh-ranked Natalie Frazier came through in the clutch again for Georgia, clinching the match with a three-set win over No. 35 Blakeley Griffith on court one and giving the senior her eighth win this year over ranked opponents.
Darya Ivanov and Naoko Ueshima completed the singles sweep for Georgia on courts five and six, respectively, both extending their winning streaks to seven.
The Bulldogs travel to Lexington, Ky., next week for the SEC Tournament hosted by the University of Kentucky, where they will have the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye.
Click here for more detailed results.
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