College Tennis News - Georgia Advances with 4-2 win over No. 11 Texas

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.--The No. 6 Georgia women's tennis team punched its ticket to the Quarterfinals with a 4-2 Round of 16 win over No. 11 Texas Friday Night at the Boars Head Tennis Center in Charlottesville, Va.

Georgia won the doubles point and then three singles matches to win the match.

"I felt like it was a really well played match by both teams," said head coach Jeff Wallace. "Texas played a really great match. For us, it was a great match all the way around. The fight of all the players was amazing. Everyone was playing really hard and it's great to come out with a win."

Georgia clinched the doubles point with wins on courts one and three. Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia beat Texas' Breaunna Addison and Noel Scott, 8-1. It's the pair's fifth win of the season. Shortly after, Mia King and Lauren Herring topped the Longhorns' Lina Padegimaite and Annat Rabinovich, 8-5 to clinch the point. Lilly Kimbell and Maho Kowase, ranked 22nd in the country, were leading 6-5 win the point was clinched.

In singles, No. 18 Maho Kowase started things off with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Breaunna Addison. Kowase improves to 22-5 on the year. Texas got on the board when Padegimaite beat Georgia's King, 6-4, 6-2. The loss is King's first of the season. Texas evened the score when No. 8 Herring fell to the Longhorns' Texas, 4-6, 6-0, 6-2. The loss is just Herring's third of the year. Freshman Makenzie Craft put Georgia ahead 3-2 with her first career dual match win, beating Lana Groenvynck 3-6, 6-2, 6-3. Silvia Garcia beat Elizabeth Begley, 7-5, 6-4 to clinch the win for Georgia. The win is Garcia's first career clinch. When the match was suspended, No. 54 Fuller trailed Texas' No. 79 Scott, 6-7, 6-3, 4-1.

Georgia will face No. 7 California Saturday at 3:30 in the quarterfinal round. The Bulldogs are 9-6 all-time against the Bears, with their last meeting resulting in a 4-2 loss in the quarterfinal round of the 2012 ITA National Team Indoors. In 2011, Georgia topped the Bears 4-3 in the Round of 16 at the 2012 NCAA Championships.

This year's appearance marks Georgia's 23rd in the history of the event. The Bulldogs have won three titles (1994-95, 2002), finished second three times (2001, 2004, 2009) and tied for third eight times (1989-'93, '98-00). Overall, Georgia sports a 48-19 overall mark at this tournament, the second most wins in tournament history.

No. 6 Georgia vs. No. 11 Texas

Singles

1. Aeriel Ellis (TEXAS) def. #8 Lauren Herring (UGA) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2

2. #18 Maho Kowase (UGA) def. Breaunna Addison (TEXAS) 6-1, 6-1

3. #54 Kate Fuller (UGA) vs. #79 Noel Scott (TEXAS) 7-6 (7-2), 3-6, 1-4, unfinished

4. Silvia Garcia (UGA) def. Elizabeth Begley (TEXAS) 7-5, 6-4

5. Lina Padegimaite (TEXAS) def. Mia King (UGA) 6-4, 6-2

6. Makenzie Craft (UGA) def. Lana Groenvynck (TEXAS) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3

Doubles

1. Kate Fuller/Silvia Garcia (UGA) def. Breaunna Addison/Noel Scott (TEXAS) 8-1

2. #22 Lilly Kimbell/Maho Kowase (UGA) vs. Elizabeth Begley/Aeriel Ellis (TEXAS) 6-5, unfinished

3. Mia King/Lauren Herring (UGA) def. Lina Padegimaite/Annat Rabinovich (TEXAS) 8-5