Women’s Tennis Falls to Georgia, 9-0

March 6, 1999

ATHENS, Ga. – Georgia’s No.3 Lady Bulldogs topped Clemson on Friday afternoon at Henry Feild Stadium, kicking off the first in a seven-match homestand with a 9-0 decision.

“For this to be our first match outdoors, we played well,” said Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace. “There are a lot of differences between indoor and outdoor play — the balls stay in the air longer, so shots that you think are winners are coming back. It’s a different style of tennis, but I’m convinced that we’re a better team outdoors than indoors. Our players rose to the occasion and played well, especially in their second sets.”

Lady Bulldog Marissa Catlin, currently ranked No. 3 in the nation and playing in the top position for Georgia, quickly disposed of Clemson’s Carmina Giraldo 6-0, 6-1. Similarly, the eleventh-ranked Lady Bulldog Vanessa Castellano topped Kate-Maree Mair in a 6-3, 6-1 decision at No. 2, and Georgia’s Zoe Mellis beat Lady Tiger sophomore Christina Oldock 7-5, 6-0 at No. 6. Esther Knox (No.22) added a victory with her 6-3, 6-3 win over Cecilia Hincapie at No. 4.

Aarthi Venkatesan clinched the victory for the Lady Bulldogs cause with her 6-2, 6-4 win over Catherine Galvin at the No. 3 position in the lineup, and junior Kelly Baskin fought off the efforts of Cinny Clausen at No. 5 to complete Georgia’s sweep of the singles matches. The sweep continued in doubles play as Georgia captured victories in each of the three doubles positions, led by the efforts of the top-ranked Lady Bulldog duo of Castellano and Catlin who cruised to an 8-3 win over Giraldo and Mair. Knox teamed with Jane Reid for a win at No. 2 over Galvin and Oldock 8-5, while Venkatesan and Christa Grey won at No. 3, over Clausen and Hincapie, 8-2.

Clemson (2-6) will take on the University of Alabama this Sunday, March 7 at noon in Alabama.

GEORGIA (#3) 9, CLEMSON 0

Singles 1 Marissa Catlin(#3) (UGA) def. Carmina Giraldo (CU), 6-0, 6-1 2 Vanessa Castellano(#11) (UGA) def. Kate-Maree Mair (CU), 6-3, 6-1 3 Aarthi Venkatesan(#23) (UGA) def. Catherine Galvin (CU), 6-2, 6-4 4 Esther Knox(#22) (UGA) def. Cecilia Hincapie (CU), 6-3, 6-3 5 Kelly Baskin (UGA) def. Cinny Clausen (CU), 6-4, 7-5 6 Zoe Mellis (UGA) def. Christina Oldock (CU), 7-5, 6-0

Doubles 1 Castellano and Catlin (UGA) def. Giraldo and Mair (CU), 8-3 2 Knox and Jane Reid (UGA) def. Galvin and Oldock (CU), 8-5 3 Christa Grey and Venkatesan (UGA) def. Hincapie and Clausen (CU), 8-2