Univ. of Georgia Team Page

ATHENS, Ga. --- The sixth-ranked Georgia women’s tennis team (5-0) returns to action Sunday against No. 74 Florida International here at 11 a.m. The match will be held at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts. All regular season matches are free and open to the public.

If a UGA-FIU contest sounds familiar, it’s because they just battled here last Saturday. The Bulldogs posted a 7-0 victory during the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Bulldogs served as one of the host sites for the four-team ITA Kickoff Weekend, a qualifying event for the ITA National Team Indoors. After the Panthers upset Fresno State last Friday and Georgia beat Missouri, the two winners squared off. The Bulldogs already had FIU on the 2012 schedule before the ITA Kickoff Weekend field was set. The Panthers travel to Florida State on Saturday before heading back to Athens.

Sunday’s contest will mark the sixth time in school history that Georgia will face the same opponent in back-to-back matches.The Bulldogs are  5-0 in the first meeting and 2-3 in the rematch.

In 1978, Georgia defeated Ga. State 9-0 to end the regular season and then blanked them again 9-0 in the GAIAW State Tournament. In 1982 at the AIAW Nationals, Georgia beat South Florida 7-2 and then faced them again and posted a 5-4 decision. In 1985, Georgia beat North Carolina 5-4 at the USC Invitational in Columbia and then lost to the Tar Heels 7-2 in Chapel Hill. Later that year, Georgia beat LSU 5-4 in Athens and then lost to the Tigers 6-3 at the FSU Invitational. In 2006, Georgia beat Tennessee 6-1 in Athens and then lost to the Lady Vols 4-3 at the SEC Tournament in Gainesville, Fla.

Currently, Georgia's singles lineup is paced by senior Chelsey Gullickson, sophomore Kate Fuller and freshman Lauren Herring. Gullickson, who is ranked No. 2 nationally in singles and doubles, owns a 19-2 mark. Fuller and Herring have the next best record at 17-4. Fuller is riding a team-best eight-match winning streak.

In their five team matches, the Bulldogs are 26-4 in singles and 11-2 in doubles. The doubles team with the best overall record is Gullickson and Gilchrist at 12-2 while the Fuller/Herring tandem is 4-1 in dual matches and 17-7 for the year.