UGA's Bernstein is SEC Coach of the Year

University of Georgia women’s tennis coach Drake Bernstein is named the SEC Tennis Coach of the Year. Six of his Bulldog tennis players earned All-Conference honors in awards that were announced Wednesday by the Southeastern Conference.

From Armando Yanez, UGA Sports Communications…

The Georgia women’s tennis team was well represented in the Southeastern Conference postseason awards as head coach Drake Bernstein was named Coach of the Year and six Bulldogs earned All-Conference honors, the SEC announced on Wednesday.

In his first season at the helm, Bernstein led the Bulldogs to a 20-4 overall record and a 12-1 mark in SEC play capped off with a share of the SEC regular season title followed by the program’s 10th conference tournament title. Bernstein’s side also achieved 18 wins against SEC opponents in all competitions, marking the first such instance in program history.

Dasha Vidmanova earned First Team All-SEC honors in back-to-back seasons for the Bulldogs. Posting 42 combined wins this season, Vidmanova tallied 19 victories over ranked opponents at the No. 1 spot in both singles and doubles, including a three-set thrilling win over the ITA No. 1 singles player Mary Stoiana (Texas A&M).

Georgia had four players represented on the Second Team All-SEC list.

Alexandra Vecic earned her first SEC postseason honor after producing 16 wins on the year with six coming against ITA top-110 ranked players in singles. Despite missing some time during SEC play, Vecic posted a 4-3 record in SEC regular season singles finished matches while leading in her four remaining unfinished contests.

Mell Reasco earned her spot for a second consecutive season after recording 29 combined wins while posting a 17-6 record in doubles at the No. 3 spot. Reasco also posted four wins against ranked singles opponents and went 8-0 in doubles to finish the SEC season.

Anastasiia Lopata recorded 41 victories on the season while going 24-8 in singles at the No. 4 spot and earning 17 doubles wins. Paired with Reasco late in the season, Lopata finished the regular season schedule 8-0 in doubles after entering the mix at the No. 3 spot.

Guillermina Grant rounded out the Bulldogs for Second Team All-SEC honors, posting 50 wins split down the middle with 25 each in singles and doubles while finishing the SEC schedule on a 13-match winning streak at No. 5 singles. Taking home two SEC Player of the Week honors, Grant also earned four wins over ranked doubles opponents and secured five match-clinching victories for the Bulldogs in 2024.

Aysegul Mert made her mark in her first year as she earned a place on the SEC All-Freshman Team, tallying 46 wins at the No. 5 singles spot including 27 wins at the No. 1 doubles spot with Vidmanova. Once becoming a regular part of the singles rotation, Mert won 11 of her last 13 matches going 8-1 in SEC play.

©2024 Cox Media Group