The Red and Black

Issue date: 3/26/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: SARA GUEVARA Junior Travis Helgeson (left) and his doubles partner Matic Omerzel went undefeated over the weekend, including a 9-7 win Friday against Auburn.

Auburn and Alabama rarely see eye-to-eye on much of anything. After this weekend, however, they can agree on the fact that the Georgia men simply field a superior tennis team - period.

They aren't the first schools to receive this enlightenment and can take solace in being two out of many opponents defeated by the Bulldogs this year as No. 1 Georgia improved its record over the weekend to 17-0 including 6-0 in SEC competition.

The weekend started off well for the team with a 6-1 win in Athens over Auburn (9-7, 2-4), a match played much closer than the final score would indicate.

"Even though we went up 3-0, really we were in trouble," coach Manuel Diaz said.

The Georgia heat - more reminiscent of May than March - affected players in the early part of the match, which lasted a grueling three hours and 45 minutes. Four out of the six singles' matches went to third sets with one Auburn player requiring treatment for cramps late in the day.

"It's just about getting tough," junior Travis Helgeson said of the long matches.

The trip to Tuscaloosa was equally successful for the Bulldogs as they downed the 11th ranked Crimson Tide (13-5, 3-3) by a 5-2 margin.

Alabama is just the second opponent to take more than one point from Georgia this season, the first being No. 3 Virginia in a 4-2 loss to Georgia in semifinals of the ITA National Indoor Championship.

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