ATHENS-----The Georgia women’s tennis team opens the 2012 season ranked No. 7 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA).
Along with the team rankings, the ITA revealed the top 125 singles players and 60 doubles teams Wednesday. Senior All-American Chelsey Gullickson headlines the Bulldog contingent, checking in at No. 2 in singles and No. 2 in doubles with senior All-American Nadja Gilchrist. Gullickson registered a 14-2 singles record in the fall and 16-3 in doubles including 10-1 with Gilchrist.
“We had a very good showing in the fall, and it’s exciting to start 2012 at No. 7 as a team,” said Georgia coach Jeff Wallace. “Chelsey is poised to have a big senior year as one of the nation’s top returners, and we’ve got four players in the top 60 of the singles.”
Bulldog sophomore Maho Kowase, sophomore Kate Fuller and freshman Lauren Herring have earned a career-best singles ranking following their fall performance. Kowase has climbed to No. 22 after going 8-1 in the fall with six wins over ranked opponents. Herring is at No. 52 and Fuller at No. 56 after they both went 12-4. Gullickson, who paired with sophomore Lilly Kimbell to win the ITA Southeast Regional this past November, earned a No. 13 ranking too. Meanwhile, Fuller and Herring went 13-6 as a tandem and are ranked No. 60 in doubles.
The Bulldogs begin their indoor season with a dual match on Friday, Jan. 13 by playing host to No. 46 Kansas State at 4 p.m. Georgia has made 25 straight appearances in the NCAA Championships including advancing to the quarterfinals in 2011. The Bulldogs went 19-5 last season and finished with a No. 8 national ranking.
Georgia is one of seven schools that have both of its tennis programs represented in the top 10 of the rankings. The Georgia men’s team is ranked No. 4. The other six schools are Stanford, Florida, UCLA, Duke, Baylor and Virginia.
Florida occupies the top spot in the Campbell’s/ITA women’s team rankings with five players ranked in the top 125 that return from its 2011 national championship team. Stanford, the 2011 NCAA runner-up is No. 2 followed by Duke, North Carolina and Baylor. Baylor is No. 6 followed by Georgia, California, Virginia and Michigan.
