Univ. of Georgia Team Page
URBANA, Ill.--The fourth-seeded Georgia women's tennis team couldn't overcome a slow start in singles, dropping a 4-1 decision to 12th-seeded Stanford Sunday afternoon in the NCAA Quarterfinals at the Kahn Outdoor Tennis Complex. As a team, the Bulldogs end their season with a 24-4 record.
We accomplished a lot of great things this year, no doubt about it," said head coach Jeff
Wallace. "We played some great doubles today, maybe the best we have all year. It looked like we were going to take that into singles. You have to credit Stanford though, they came out in singles and played great at every spot and unfortunately it just wasn't our day. I feel like this program did some unbelievable things this year and is headed in the right direction."
Georgia won its 25th doubles point of the 2013 campaign, getting strong performances from all three courts, but couldn't win three singles matches to advance in the tournament.
In doubles, the nation's top-ranked duo of Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia beat No. 8 Nicole Gibbs and Kristie Ahn. They improve to 23-3 this season. Shortly after, Lilly Kimbell and Mia King clinched their third doubles point of the year, overwhelming Natalie Dillon an d Krista Hardebeck, 8-3. Maho Kowase and Lauren Herring led No. 28 Stacey Tan and Ellen Tsay 6-4 when their match was suspended.
But in singles, Stanford won four first sets and held off multiple advances by
Georgia to win four singles matches. No. 25 Ahn outdid No. 19 Kowase, 6-0, 6-1 to tie the score at 1-1. A short time later, Okuno dropped a 6-1, 6-2 decision to Tsay to give the Cardinal a 2-1 lead.
Fuller, who dropped her first set to Tan 6-4, got a late break in the second set, but couldn't keep the momentum, and lost 7-5. Stanford clinched its spot in the semi finals when Tan outlasted Garcia, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Georgia was making its 27th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, and reached the quarterfinals for the 21st time in program history.
Herring and Kowase will begin play in the NCAA singles championship on Wed., May 22nd, while Fuller and Garcia will start doubles competition on Thurs., May 23rd. Herring is the sixth seeded singles player and the duo of Fuller and Garcia are seeded first. Draws will be released early next week.
No. 12 Stanford 4, No. 4 Georgia 1
Noon CT - North Courts
Singles
1. #13 Nicole Gibbs (STAN) vs. #6 Lauren Herring (UGA) 6-1, 3-6, 3-0*
2. #25 Kristie Ahn (STAN) def. #19 Maho Kowase (UGA) 6-0, 6-1
3. #14 Krista Hardebeck (STAN) def. #104 Silvia Garcia (UGA) 2-6, 6-1, 6-1
4. #103 Stacey Tan (STAN) def. Kate Fuller (UGA) 6-4, 7-5
5. #92 Ellen Tsay (STAN) def. Ayaka Okuno (UGA) 6-1, 6-2
6. Mia King (UGA) vs. Natalie Dillon (STAN) 6-1, 6-5
Doubles
1. #1 Fuller/Garcia (UGA) def. #8 Ahn/Gibbs (STAN) 8-5
2. #52 Herring/Kowase (UGA) vs. #28 Tan/Tsay (STAN) 6-4*
3. Kimbell/King (UGA) def. Dillon/Hardebeck (STAN) 8-3
Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (2,5,4,3)
* = unfinished
