Vols Battle, Fall to #10 Georgia, 4-3

Saturday, March 18

Athens, GA

1 PM

University of Tennessee

Georgia

Photo by: Preston Jones/Tennessee Athletics

March 18, 2023 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

ATHENS, Ga. – A hard-fought road battle saw the 18th-ranked Tennessee men's tennis team narrowly fall to 10th-ranked Georgia Saturday afternoon, 4-3.

Tennessee (12-6, 3-2 SEC) began the match by winning its 16th doubles point of the season, with victories on courts two and three. Georgia (11-5, 5-0 SEC) eventually clinched the match on court two to end the over three-hour battle.

"I thought today was a good college tennis match," head coach Chris Woodruff said. "There were lots of ebbs and flows. One team was going to be disappointed at the result and unfortunately, it was us. I've been around long enough to know that one, two or three matches don't define a season. What truly matters is where you are in May. I'd say it won't be the last time we lock horns with Georgia."

In doubles, Tennessee's 50th-ranked duo of Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui took down Philip Henning and Teodor Giusca of Georgia, 6-4, on court two. Hudd and Mitsui broke the Bulldogs on a 4-4 deuce point to go up 5-4 before serving it out.

After the Bulldogs took court one, UT's Angel Diaz and Martim Prata overcame Blake Croyder and Britton Johnston at the No. 3 spot, 6-4, to clinch the doubles point. In Diaz and Prata's first pairing since last dual season, the tandem held on an opening-game decider and broke Georgia to go up a break at 3-1. Croyder and Johnston broke back to cut their deficit to 4-5, but the Vols used a break in the final game to give Tennessee an early 1-0 lead.

On the singles courts, seventh-ranked Johannus Monday continued his stellar junior campaign with a straight-set, 6-2, 6-2, win over Ethan Quinn, who entered Saturday with a No. 2 national singles ranking. Monday won 56 of the match's 95 total points, earning his 10th win atop the singles lineup this spring to improve to 13-1 overall in singles play this season. Monday has won 10 consecutive singles matches and is 5-0 in SEC action.

The Bulldogs tallied their first point with a win on court six, before #120 Shunsuke Mitsui rebounded from dropping his first set to defeat #90 Blake Croyder, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Mitsui won 54-of-96 (.563) points in the final two sets after going down a set, giving Tennessee a 3-1 advantage.

Georgia took court five, with #101 Giusca defeating Tennessee's Diaz in a pair of tiebreakers, 7-6(3), 7-6(2). On court three, UT's Blaise Bicknell had two match points in a second-set tiebreaker, but Georgia's Trent Bryde took the three-set affair, 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-3.

The Georgia clinch came at the No. 2 spot, as 15th-ranked Henning won a third-set tiebreaker over Tennessee's Hudd to take the match, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(6). Of Tennessee's six losses this season, four have been 4-3 decisions and all have come against top-15 competition, with four of the six coming against top-10 foes.

UP NEXT
Tennessee returns home for a match against No. 11 Columbia on Friday, with first serve set for 4 p.m. ET.

RESULTS: Tennessee 3, Georgia 4
Doubles

1. #11 Ethan Quinn/Trent Bryde (UGA) def. #4 Pat Harper/Johannus Monday (UT) 6-3
2. #50 Emile Hudd/Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. Philip Henning/Teodor Giusca (UGA) 6-4
3. Angel Diaz/Martim Prata (UT) def. Blake Croyder/Britton Johnston (UGA) 6-4

Order of Finish: (2,1,3)

Singles

1. #7 Johannus Monday (UT) def. #2 Ethan Quinn (UGA) 6-2, 6-2
2. #15 Philip Henning (UGA) def. #62 Emile Hudd (UT) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6)
3. Trent Bryde (UGA) def. Blaise Bicknell (UT) 2-6, 7-6 (10-8), 6-3
4. #120 Shunsuke Mitsui (UT) def. #90 Blake Croyder (UGA) 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
5. #101 Teodor Giusca (UGA) def. Angel Diaz (UT) 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2)
6. Miguel Perez Pena (UGA) def. Pat Harper (UT) 6-2, 7-5

Order of Finish: (1,6,4,5,3,2)