Georgia spring sports making NCAA Tournament noise all across the country
Spring is always a fun time in Athens, and this year has been no exception. Georgia sports all around campus have been making some noise, and that’s certainly welcomed with NCAA Tournament action taking place all across the country.
Women’s tennis gets underway with its action in Orlando on Wednesday as the fourth-seeded Dawgs take on No. 5 Michigan in the quarterfinals. Then, attention turns to the men’s side where Georgia is No. 6 and takes on Ohio State Thursday. Georgia is one of two teams along with Michigan to have both men’s and women’s teams reach the quarterfinals. Both matches can be seen on NCAA.com.
Women’s head coach Jeff Wallace has announced he’s stepping down at the end of the season with the replacement already set. Drake Bernstein will take over after spending the last 11 seasons within the women’s program.
Bernstein graduated from Georgia in May 2011 having played for the men’s team, earning All-SEC honors his season season while serving as a team captain. He was a freshman on the 2008 National Championship team. Bernstein briefly played professionally before returning to the college ranks as a coach.
This weekend, it’s time for the women’s golf tournament with Georgia fresh off of a dominant win in the Athens Regional. Jenny Bae, who was named one of seven finalists for PING National Player of the Year on Tuesday, won the individual award by six shots while the Bulldogs were the top team by two over South Carolina with a score of 13-under-par.
The Bulldogs and Gamecocks out-paced the rest of the field by at least 25 strokes on their way to advancing to the NCAA Championships in Scottsdale, Arizona, two of the 30 teams to do so – five from each regional location. Coverage of the final round of individual action and team qualifying can be seen on Golf Channel at 5:00 p.m. ET Monday.
Meanwhile, the men are in the midst of wrapping up their spot in the NCAA Championships too, two rounds into the Bath Regional at Michigan State. Ben van Wyk led the field individually through 36 holes at 9-under-par while the Bulldogs were 28-under-par as a team, 10 shots ahead of fourth-ranked Illinois. The 13-team regional featured four teams ranked in the top 25 with just five spots up for grabs for the NCAA Championships at Grayhawk Golf Club – the same host spot as the women’s tournament – May 26-31.
Don’t forget about softball either. The NCAA Tournament begins this weekend with Georgia – the No. 14 national seed – hosting Virginia Tech, Boston University and North Carolina Central at Jack Turner Softball Stadium. The Bulldogs went 39-13 overall and 16-7 in the SEC to finish the regular season in second place before being bounced early in the SEC Tournament. They will play North Carolina Central Friday at 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
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Baseball and track both have yet to reach the NCAA portion of their schedules. The Diamond Dawgs host LSU to finish out the regular season Thursday through Saturday while preparation for NCAA Regionals is getting underway for the track team that wrapped up SEC Outdoor Championships this past weekend.
