April 17, 2009

The sixth-ranked Tennessee men's tennis plays its final regular season match Saturday night at fourth-ranked Georgia with a share of the SEC East title on the line. Georgia (20-2, 9-1 SEC) has already clinched at least a share of the division while Tennessee (19-4, 8-2 SEC) needs to win over the Bulldogs to stake a claim.

The Bulldogs have won a school record 59 consecutive home matches coming into Saturday's match. UGA has not lost a dual-match at home since April 23, 2005. Last season, UT ended Georgia's 40-match SEC win streak with a 4-3 victory in Knoxville.

This season, both Tennessee and Georgia have faced brutal schedules. Georgia's two losses are to Ole Miss and Virginia, currently ranked first and third in the country. The Vols have also fallen to the Rebels and Cavaliers while also dropping a pair of matches to 12th-ranked Kentucky.

Last season, UT won the doubles point and it proved to be the difference in the Vols 4-3 victory. This season it once again will be a critical aspect of the match as neither team has lost this season when it has captured the doubles point. Georgia is 16-0 and UT is 15-0 when it takes a 1-0 lead into singles.

The Vols have been very tough on the road in the SEC under head coach Sam Winterbotham. UT has a record of 10-5 on the road in conference play since the beginning of the 2007 season. Overall, Tennessee is 22-10 away from Knoxville since Winterbotham took over.

The match is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. A link to live scoring can be found at UTsports.com.