No. 2 Georgia women’s tennis swept No. 10 Tennessee 4-0 in the quarterfinal of the SEC Tournament. This was the Bulldogs’ first match of the tournament, bypassing the first two rounds of play after entering the tournament as the No. 2 seed.
Georgia has faced Tennessee in five consecutive SEC Tournaments, holding a perfect 5-0 record with three sweeps.
No. 74 Guillermina Grant and Anastasiia Lopata opened the match strong for the Bulldogs, taking a quick 6-0 win on court two against Elza Tomase and Saray Yli-Piipari.
The Volunteers struck back as Vanesa Suarez and Maeve Thornton defeated Aysegul Mert and Hayden Mulberry 6-1 on court three.
No. 2 Mell Reasco and Dasha Vidmanova clinched the doubles point for Georgia, winning 6-4 against No. 26 Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso on court one.
In singles, No. 22 Lopata was first to finish with a dominant win over No. 42 Aulia. The junior won 6-1, 6-1 on court two. No. 85 Grant extended the lead, defeating Yli-Piipari 6-3, 6-3 on court five.
Seconds later, Sofia Rojas clinched the match for the Bulldogs on court six with 6-4, 6-1 wins over Tennessee's Thornton.
At the time, the matches on courts one and three were still in progress. No. 1 Vidmanova fell in the first set to No. 7 Tomase 6-4 but was up 3-1 in their second set. Reasco, on court three, had upset No. 70 Britez Risso 6-3 and was winning the second set 4-2.
Georgia moves on to its sixth-consecutive SEC Tournament semifinal and remains in pursuit of a third-consecutive SEC Tournament title and a fourth in the last five seasons.
The Bulldogs will stay in Auburn, Ala. to compete against No. 5 Oklahoma, the tournament’s No. 3 seed, in the semifinal. The match will be on Saturday at 1 p.m.
