College Tennis News - Bulldogs Conclude Play In California

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. --- The Georgia men’s tennis team wrapped up play Sunday at the National Collegiate Tennis Classic in California, an effort highlighted by three doubles victories and a strong singles outing by freshman Ben Wagland.

Georgia went 3-1 in doubles play to start the day, including a trio of wins over teams from Ole Miss – picked to win the SEC title this season by the league’s coaches. The duo of Eric Diaz and Garrett Brasseaux defeated the Rebel team of Adrian Forberg-Skogeng, 8-5, while fifth-ranked Hernus Pieters and Wagland downed Ole Miss’ Johan Backstrom and Stefan Lindmark by the same 8-5 score. Casey Kay and Marco Nunez finished the sweep with their 8-6 win over Jonas Lutjen and Zach Wilder.

Georgia’s other doubles match Sunday resulted in a tough 8-7(5) tiebreak loss for the duo of KU Singh and Nathan Pasha to Cal’s team of Campbell Johnson and Christoffer Konigsfeldt.

In singles, Wagland started the Bulldogs on the right foot with his 6-4, 6-1 win over Ole Miss’ Kallberg, while the rest of the squad suffered some tough luck on the final day including four three-set losses. Diaz fell 7-5, 5-7, 7-6(4) to Skogeng, Nunez was edged 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 by Backstrom, Kay lost 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to Wilder, and Singh was bested 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Lutjen. Additionally, Pieters suffered a 6-4, 6-4 setback to Konigsfeldt and Brasseaux dropped his match with Lindmark by a score of 6-2, 7-5.

“We lost a lot of close matches today, but I am really satisfied overall with the tournament,” said head coach Manuel Diaz. “We got what we needed, which was some great challenges each and every day. Our doubles was better today than the first two days and overall the guys played really well. This weekend will help us for next weekend – we’ll get back to Athens and get back acclimated to indoor tennis. We’re looking forward to hosting the ITA Kickoff starting on Friday.”

Georgia will open the dual match slate next weekend, welcoming Vanderbilt, VCU, and Minnesota to the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility Jan. 25-26 for ITA Kickoff action, with a bid to the National Team Indoor Championships up for grabs. Live stats and the Georgia Tennis Live Chat will be accessible on Georgiadogs.com.