Georgia ends tennis season for FAMU, FSU
Georgetown photo
Outlook Staff Report
ATHENS, Ga. — The University of Georgia is moving on in the women’s division of the NCAA Tennis Tournament. The Bulldogs advanced after eliminating the two local teams – Florida State and FAMU – that played in the same regional in Athens, Ga.
Georgia beat FAMU 4-0 on the opening day, while FSU defeated Illinois to set up Saturday’s match. The Seminoles fell 4-0 to the Bulldogs at the Dan Magill Tennis Center.
The Seminoles battled hard all day and were competitive in singles. Vic Allen won her second set 6-1 and was ahead 2-1 against third-ranked Lea Ma of Georgia. Anna Arkadianou won her first set 7-5 against No. 4 Dasha Vidmanova. Both matches went unfinished.
After taking the doubles point with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, the Bulldogs won at No. 5, No. 4, and No. 3 singles to clinch the victory.
A day earlier, FSU defeated Illinois 4-2 and seemed poised to put up a solid challenge against the Bulldogs.
The Seminoles kicked off the match against Illinois with Allen and Ellie Schoppe winning 6-1 at No. 1 doubles. Illinois responded with wins at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles to secure the doubles point and take an early 1-0 lead before FSU fought back to take the match.
In Friday’s other match, Georgia didn’t get much of a challenge from FAMU at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
In doubles, Georgia swept the Rattlers, undefeated regular season champion of the SWAC.
The sophomore tandem of Dasha Vidmanova and Mell Reasco cruised to a 6-1 victory over Sara Rakim and Sierra Sandy on court one, while the senior tandem of Meg Kowalski and Lea Ma clinched the doubles point on court three, defeating Veronica Rodriguez and Rebekkah Gaines 6-1.
On the men’s side, the Seminoles fell 4-1 to No. 8 South Carolina Saturday afternoon and were also eliminated from the NCAA tournament.
FSU advanced to face the host South Carolina when it defeated Baylor 4-0 on Friday afternoon in the first round at Carolina Tennis Center.
Coach Dwayne Hultquist applauded his team’s tenacity during the weekend.
“I thought it was a really hard-fought match with a lot of momentum swings,” Hultquist said. “I felt like the rain delay in doubles helped South Carolina and they came out playing better after it. We were up a break and had serve and had opportunities to break after that and South Carolina played very well there to take the doubles.
“We had a very tough draw up here, especially given where we were ranked. We’ve done a lot of really good things this season and had a number of great wins. I’m really proud of our guys but disappointed to see the season end.”
South Carolina secured the doubles point and a 1-0 lead after winning on court No. 2 and court No. 3. The Gamecocks extended the lead to 2-0 after a 6-1, 6-1 win on court No. 1.
Florida State continued to fight, winning four first sets, including winning three tiebreakers on courts No. 2, No. 3 and on No. 6 but didn’t have enough to rally.
