College Tennis News - No. 9 Women's Tennis Downs No. 15 Notre Dame, 6-1

ATHENS-----The ninth-ranked Georgia women's tennis team won for the third time in five days, defeating No. 15 Notre Dame 6-1 Tuesday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

It was the final non-conference match of the regular season for the Bulldogs, who improved to 10-1. Notre Dame dropped to 9-5 with the loss.

"I thought our team played great today," said UGA coach Jeff Wallace. "We really set the tone in doubles, and it was probably our best match with those three teams. Overall it was a well-played match for us. It was good to get a victory against a Notre Dame team that I think is going to win a lot of matches this year."

The Bulldogs swept the doubles point for the second straight match to take a 1-0 lead. A No. 3, the tandem of Makenzie Craft and Lilly Kimbell topped Quinn Gleason and Katherine Willis, 8-4, then the ninth-ranked team of Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia clinched the point at No. 1 with an 8-5 win over Jennifer Kellner and Chrissie McGaffigan. Lauren Herring and Maho Kowase finished off the sweep at No. 2 with an 8-4 win over No. 38 Julie Sabacinski and Britney Sanders. It was the 10th time in 11 matches this season Georgia won the doubles point.

Fuller claimed Georgia's first singles point with a 6-1, 6-2 win over McGaffigan at No. 4, then Craft won her first match of the season at No. 5 with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Molly O'Koniewski.

Fifteenth-ranked Kowase provided the clincher at No. 3 with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Gleason. It was her second clincher of the year and fourth straight win. Notre Dame's lone point came at No. 6 where White edged Kimbell in a super tiebreaker, 7-5, 3-6, 1-0(10-6), to make it 4-1.

The Bulldogs then closed out the match with wins at Nos. 1 and 2 by Herring and Garcia, respectively. Ninth-ranked Herring notched her team-leading 27th win of the season with a 6-0, 5-7, 1-0(10-3) win over No. 42 Sanders, then No. 97 Garcia beat Kellner 6-3, 6-2 for the final margin.

"This was good preparation for all the big SEC matches coming up," Craft said. "It was nice for all of us to come out and take care of business today as we get ready to take on Florida this weekend."

Georgia will return to action this weekend when it travels to No. 5 Florida on Friday and No. 35 South Carolina Sunday.

#9 Georgia 6, #15 Notre Dame 1

Singles competition

1. #9 Lauren Herring (UGA) def. #42 Britney Sanders (ND) 6-0, 5-7, 1-0 (10-3)

2. #97 Silvia Garcia (UGA) def. Jennifer Kellner (ND) 6-3, 6-2

3. #15 Maho Kowase (UGA) def. Quinn Gleason (ND) 6-4, 6-4

4. #116 Kate Fuller (UGA) def. Chrissie McGaffigan (ND) 6-1, 6-1

5. Makenzie Craft (UGA) def. Molly O'Koniewski (ND) 6-0, 6-2

6. Katherine White (ND) def. Lilly Kimbell (UGA) 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6)

Doubles competition

1. #9 Kate Fuller/Silvia Garcia (UGA) def. Jennifer Kellner/Chrissie McGaffigan (ND) 8-5

2. Lauren Herring/Maho Kowase (UGA) def. #38 Julie Sabacinski/Britney Sanders (ND) 8-4

3. Makenzie Craft/Lilly Kimbell (UGA) def. Quinn Gleason/Katherine White (ND) 8-4

Match Notes:

Notre Dame 9-5; National ranking #15

Georgia 10-1; National ranking #9

Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (4,5,3,6,1,2)