The Red and Black

Issue date: 4/29/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Alex Busko Men's tennis coach Manuel Diaz (left) and women's tennis coach Jeff Wallace (right) found out their seeds in the NCAA Tourney Tuesday. [Click to enlarge]

The Georgia women's tennis team won't have to leave the Classic City for the first two rounds as it embarks on its quest for a third NCAA team title.

The women learned their fate early Tuesday evening as the NCAA announced the 64-team field. The SEC champion Bulldogs (23-2) are the No. 2 seed in the draw and will play host to South Carolina State in their opening regional round match on May 9.

"It's very exciting," head coach Jeff Wallace said. "May's coming around the corner, and it's just a great time of year for all of us. Our No. 2 seed is nice, but we realize we have a lot of work to be done."

Each of the winners of the 16 regional sites will advance to College Station, Texas, where one team will be crowned NCAA champion. For Georgia to advance, it would have to win its first round match and then defeat the winner of Boise State and Alabama in the second round.

"We've got to get some good practices in this week," Wallace said. "We're riding on a high after winning the SEC championship, but we've got to put that behind us, and we've got to continue to improve. That's kind of been our theme all year, so we've got to keep on working in practice and stay competitive."

The Bulldogs haven't won a national team title since 2000, but senior Monika Dancevic believes the close-knit unit can accomplish its season-long goal.

"Once school's done, we're just going to keep our focus on tennis and just continue to support each other on the court like we've done all year," Dancevic said. "I think that's really going to help us do well this year."

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