The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/20/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: JAKE DANIELS Josh Varela won his last regular season match 6-4, 6-3 on Saturday. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: JAKE DANIELS Josh Varela wanted to go out a winner in his final collegiate tennis match at Georgia, especially against rival Tennessee. [Click to enlarge]

He fell flat on his back after catapulting his racket in the air.

He slowly hoisted his hands toward the sky before lowering them once more to cover his face in joy. He just won his final regular season match at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

"The emotions came out after the match," said Josh Varela, senior captain of Georgia men's tennis team. "It's been a great time here [at Georgia]. I couldn't pick a better way to go out. It's been the best day."

The No. 4 Bulldogs defeated No. 6 Tennessee 5-2 on Saturday, winning their 60th straight match at home.

After making it through the senior ceremony, Varela went into his match fighting off nerves and emotions that had been flitting in and out of his mind all day long.

"It was such an up and down day for me, an emotional roller coaster," Varela said. "I was pretty good at the senior day ceremony. I was ready to play. I was focused. I was really, really nervous because it was my last [home] match."

Varela's opponent on senior day was Tennessee's Davey Sandgren. After settling into the match, Varela proceeded to win his last collegiate match in Athens, 6-4, 6-3.

"I went out there and I pulled through. It feels amazing to come out here, get a point for the team," Varela said. "I couldn't pick a better way to go out."

Varela was propelled by the momentum built by the play of Christian Vitulli on court 6, who gave up only one game in two sets of tennis. After carefully dissecting Tennessee's Christian Hansen and dictating each point, Vitulli quickly added a point on the board for Georgia, winning 6-1, 6-0.

"I was told his backhand was much weaker, and he was a left-hander, too, so I just kept forcing his backhand," Vitulli said. "If it's a quick [win] like that, the momentum completely goes our way, and it just carried over to the guys next to me."

With Georgia up 3-1, Drake Bernstein jumped at the chance to earn his third clinch of the season. Facing Tennessee's Matt Brewer on court 5, Bernstein clinched with a 6-3, 6-3 win and secured a solid send off for Varela.

"I was glad we got to win it for [Varela]. I would have been as glad if anybody else clinched it for Josh. He deserved to go out that way," Bernstein said. "It was a good win over a good team."

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