Univ. of Georgia Team Page
AUBURN, Ala.—The No. 4 Georgia women’s tennis team started its final regular season road trip of the season with a win, beating Auburn 4-0 Friday evening at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
“It was a great match,” said head coach Jeff Wallace. “Both teams were playing really high-level tennis. It was nice to get the doubles point and I think that it gave us a lot of momentum going into singles. Singles was really close at the start, but Kate, Silvia and Maho all stepped up to get wins.”
Georgia won its 19th doubles point before winning three singles matches to clinch the 4-0 win.
In doubles, Lilly Kimbell and Ayaka Okuno started by beating Jen Pfeifler and Paulina Schippers 8-6. Kimbell and Okuno trailed 0-5, but won eight of the final nine games to win the match. Shortly after, Georgia’s third-ranked duo of Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia upended the No. 10 duo of Pleun Burgmans and Plamena Kurteva. The win is the Georgia tandem’s 19th of the spring, and fifth against a Top-20 opponent.
In singles, Fuller was first off the court, beating Pfeifler 6-2, 6-2. Seconds later, No. 88 Garcia topped Auburn’s Michala Kucharova 6-3, 6-1. Garcia improves to 20-2 this spring, and has now won seven matches in a row. No. 19 Kowase tallied her seventh match clincher of the year with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Emily Flickinger. Kowase has a team-high 34 wins.
Georgia’s Okuno and King when the remaining matches were abandoned.
With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 49-6 all-time versus the Tigers. Georgia has blanked its opponents in five of its last six matches.
The Bulldogs return to the courts on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET against No. 8 Alabama (18-4, 10-2). With a win, Georgia will clinch at least a share of its ninth SEC regular season title.
“[Winning the SEC] has been one of our goals all season” Wallace continued. “Alabama has a great team this year and has been playing well, but I think our team has done a nice job this season and is ready for the challenge.”
Live scoring will be available on Georgiadogs.com.
#4 Georgia 4, #22 Auburn University 0
Singles
1. #26 Pleun Burgmans (AU) vs. #6 Lauren Herring (UGA) 6-3, 2-1, unfinished
2. #19 Maho Kowase (UGA) def. Emily Flickinger (AU) 6-3, 6-2
3. #88 Silvia Garcia (UGA) def. Michala Kucharova (AU) 6-3, 6-1
4. Kate Fuller (UGA) def. Jen Pfeifler (AU) 6-2, 6-2
5. Jackie Kasler (AU) vs. Ayaka Okuno (UGA) 4-6, 1-5, unfinished
6. Plamena Kurteva (AU) vs. Mia King (UGA) 6-7 (7-9), unfinished
Doubles
1. #3 Kate Fuller/Silvia Garcia (UGA) def. #10 Pleun Burgmans/Plamena Kurteva (AU) 9-7
2. Emily Flickinger/Jackie Kasler (AU) vs. #64 Lauren Herring/Maho Kowase (UGA) 5-6, unfinished
3. Lilly Kimbell/Ayaka Okuno (UGA) def. Jen Pfeifler/Paulina Schippers (AU) 8-6
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1); Singles (4,3,2)
