Monday, 05/16/2011

NCAA Women’s Tennis Tournament: Georgia (16-4), #8 seed, #8 ITA Ranking

1st/2nd Rounds: Dan Magill Tennis Complex, Athens, Ga.

25 STRAIGHT: Eighth-ranked Georgia, the No. 8 national seed, will be making their 25th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tennis Championships here Saturday. The Bulldogs (16-4) will open up against Marist (13-7) on Saturday at noon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. That streak ranks in a tie for fifth best nationally with Florida. The longest active NCAA streak is 30 by Stanford, UCLA and California. Along with Marist, Georgia will play host to #49 Utah (16-9) and #26 Alabama (15-6) this weekend. The Utah-Alabama match will be Saturday at 9 a.m. The first round winners will meet on Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children.

NCAA HISTORY: Georgia is 58-22 in the NCAA Championships, including 10 trips to the Final Four with national titles in 1994 and 2000 under head coach Jeff Wallace.

PLAYING HOST: The Bulldogs have served as an early round host now 10 times since the NCAA went to this current format in 1999. They are 18-0 in the early rounds in Athens. First and second round action are being held at various campus sites this weekend, and the final 16 site of the 2011 NCAA Championships will be on the Stanford campus in Palo Alto, California from May 19-30.

NCAA TEAMS IN ATHENS: Georgia has never faced Marist, owns a 4-0 mark against Utah and is 35-1 all-time against Alabama. This season, the Crimson Tide captured the doubles point against Georgia before the Bulldogs rallied back for a 4-3 win in Tuscaloosa on March 6.

THEY SAID IT:  “It’s great to be back in the NCAA Tournament, and we’re excited about being a host,” said Georgia coach Jeff Wallace. “Everybody who gets to the postseason has had a good year, and now they will be battling hard and being scrappy to try and advance.”

“It’s definitely exciting to host this year after we went on the road last year and then lost in the round of 16,” said Bulldog junior Chelsey Gullickson. “We’ve got an opportunity to hopefully play two more home matches, and I know our freshmen are looking forward to playing in the NCAA Tournament. We’ve got six freshmen, and it will be good for them to get that experience. We’ll be focused in each match and looking to have fun and do well.”

FIVE EARN ALL-SEC HONORS: Gullickson and freshman Maho Kowase were named First Team All-SEC while senior Cameron Ellis and freshmen Kate Fuller and Lilly Kimbell made Second Team All-SEC. Also, Kowase was among six rookies in the league named to the All-Freshman Team. Ellis was selected to the SEC All-Tournament team as well.

Gullickson is ranked No. 25 nationally, and she is the defending NCAA singles champion. The Gullickson/Fuller tandem is 15-5 and ranked No. 9 nationally. She is in the NCAA singles field and in the NCAA doubles draw with Fuller. Ellis, ranked No. 86, owns the top singles record this season at 28-6 while Kowase, ranked No. 79, leads the team in wins with a 29-10 record. Kimbell is 25-9 in singles and ranked No. 42 in doubles with junior Nadja Gilchrist.

RECORD WATCH: Senior Cameron Ellis is closing in on the school record for most combined wins. She ranks third with 220, just two behind record holder Naoko Ueshima (222 from 2007-10).