Ben Wagland, Photo courtesy of University of Georgia

The third-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team concluded the regular season with a 5-2 win over No. 33 Alabama at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on Sunday.

The match began outdoors, but was moved to the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility due to rain following the doubles point. The Bulldogs (19-4, 11-1 SEC), who last week clinched the 27th SEC regular season title in program history, will enter the postseason on a 10-match winning streak.

The Georgia women also clinched a share of the SEC championship on Sunday. This marks the fourth time overall and the first time since 2007 that both the UGA men’s and women’s teams won the SEC title in the same season.

“Alabama came out and played very hard in doubles, and it was probably one of the most exciting doubles points we’ve had all year,” UGA coach Manuel Diaz said. “We needed to rest our No. 1 doubles team, and we got that accomplished. This was one of the most difficult weeks of preparation as we had six guys struck with the stomach virus. Our practices never went longer than 45 minutes to an hour. I’m really proud of how our guys battled this week. To come out with two good wins like we did, I’m very pleased.”

Alabama (12-12, 3-9 SEC) took a 1-0 lead with doubles wins at Nos. 1 and 2. The Tide’s 30th-ranked tandem of Jarryd Botha and David Vieyra beat No. 24 Garrett Brasseaux and Nathan Pasha, 8-4, then Alabama clinched the point at No. 2 where Becker O’Shaugnessey and Daniil Proskura edged Will Oliver and Hernus Pieters, 9-7. The match at No. 3 was suspended when the doubles point was clinched.

Seventh-ranked Singh gave Georgia its first point with a 6-1, 7-5 win over No. 79 Botha at No. 1, then the Bulldogs took a 2-1 lead when No. 121 Pieters downed Philippe Tsangarides, 6-4, 6-2. No. 44 Pasha made it 3-1 with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Proskura at No. 2, then Brasseaux recorded his third match-clincher with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Stuart Kenyon at No. 5.

At No. 3, O’Shaughnessey outlasted Austin Smith, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, then Marco Nunez closed out the match with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Harris Barnard at No. 6 for the final margin.

Georgia improved to 12-0 at home this season with the win. Sunday’s match also marked the final regular season home contests for seniors Oliver and Singh, who were honored during a pre-match ceremony.

“Home matches have been awesome,” Singh said. “The support here is always incredible. I’m going to miss having this many people come to our matches and support us. It’s been awesome.”

The Bulldogs won the 2013 Southeastern Conference regular season title with an 11-1 conference record and will enter next week’s SEC Championships as the top seed and will enjoy a first-round bye. The tournament is set for April 17-21 at Ole Miss’ Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in Oxford, Miss.

Georgia will take on the winner of the No. 8 Kentucky vs. No. 9 Mississippi match in Friday’s quarterfinals at 7 p.m. EDT. The Bulldogs defeated both teams earlier this season. Live scoring and the Georgia Tennis Live Chat will be available throughout the Bulldogs’ run in the tournament. The semifinals are set for Sat., April 20 and the finals for Sun., April 21.

The Bulldogs are currently ranked third nationally with a 19-4 overall record and their 11-1 SEC mark, in the midst of a 10-match winning streak entering the postseason. Georgia concluded the regular season with a weekend sweep of Auburn and Alabama this weekend. Georgia won the 2012 SEC Championships with a win over UK in the final in Starkville, Mississippi. – the program’s eighth tournament title. The Bulldogs now own 35 overall SEC championships.

Singles

1. #7 KU Singh (UG) def. #79 Jarryd Botha (UA) 6-1, 7-5

2. #44 Nathan Pasha (UG) def. Daniil Proskura (UA) 6-4, 6-1

3. #98 B. O’Shaughnessey (UA) def. Austin Smith (UG), 7-5, 3-6, 7-5

4. #121 Hernus Pieters (UG) def. Philippe Tsangarides (UA) 6-4, 6-2

5. Garrett Brasseaux (UG) def. Stuart Kenyon (UA), 6-0, 6-0

6. Marco Nunez (UG) def. Harris Barnard (UA), 6-1, 6-4

Doubles

1. #30 Jarryd Botha/David Vieyra (UA) def. #24 Garrett Brasseaux/Nathan Pasha (UG), 8-4

2. #58 B. O’Shaughnessey/Daniil Proskura (UA) def. Will Oliver/Hernus Pieters (UG), 9-7

3. Eric Diaz/Marco Nunez (UG) vs. Stuart Kenyon/Philippe Tsangarides (UA), 8-8, unfinished

It’s Georgia’s first SEC regular season crown since 2009. In that year, Georgia (19-2, 12-1) also went on to win the SEC Tournament.

“We’re so excited,” said head coach Jeff Wallace. “The team put in a lot of hard work all year and it has paid off in a great way. Alabama played a really great match, but I’m so proud of our team and the way we played today.

Georgia topped Alabama (18-4, 10-3) in tightly contested doubles point and then won three singles matches to clinch the win and the conference championship. Sunday’s match was played indoors due to rain.

In doubles, Georgia’s No. 64 duo of Lauren Herring and Maho Kowase were first off the court with an 8-5 win over Alabama’s No. 84 pairing of Antonia Foehse and Maya Jansen. Later, the tandem of Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia, ranked third in the country, outlasted the No. 5 pairing of Alexa Guarachi and Mary Anne Macfarlane, 8-6.

In singles, Fuller notched a 6-3, 7-5 win over Foehse to improve her record to 27-6 this year. The win also marks the seventh time this season that she has picked up Georgia first singles point. On the top court, No. 6 Herring overpowered No. 62 Alexa Guarachi 7-5, 6-1 to bring Georgia to within a point of winning the match. The Bulldogs clinched the match and championship when No. 19 Kowase beat No. 29 Macfarlane 6-2, 6-3. It was Kowase’s eighth match clincher of the year. She leads the team with 35 victories this year.

“Now that the regular season is over, we’re excited to get started on the postseason,” Wallace continued. “We have two big tournaments coming up. We’re looking forward to enjoying this win tonight, but then we’re going to get back to work this week to get ready for the SEC Tournament.”

This is the fourth time that both the men’s and women’s teams have won SEC regular season championships in the same year (1989, 2002, 2007, 2013).

Georgia won the tiebreaker and drew the No. 1 seed in next week’s SEC Tournament in Starkville, Miss. The Bulldogs will face the winner of South Carolina and Ole Miss on Friday at 8:00 a.m. CT in the quarterfinal round. Georgia, which holds a 47-19 record all-time in the SEC Tournament, is in search of the program’s seventh SEC Tournament Title.

Doubles

1. No. 3 Garcia/Fuller (UGA) def. No. 5 Guarachi/Macfarlane (UA) 8-6

2. No. 64 Kowase/Herring (UGA) def. No. 84 Foehse/Jansen (UA) 8-5

3. Okuno/King (UGA) vs. Zabor/Maynetto (UA) 5-4, unf.

Singles

1. No. 6 Lauren Herring (UGA) def. No. 62 Alexa Guarachi (UA) 7-5, 6-1

2. No. 19 Maho Kowase (UGA) def. No. 29 Mary Anne Macfarlane (UA) 6-2, 6-3

3. No. 102 Maya Jansen (UA) vs. No. 88 Silvia Garcia (UGA) 6-4, 4-5, unf.

4. Kate Fuller (UGA) def. Antonia Foehse (UA) 6-3, 7-5

5. No. 116 Natalia Maynetto (UA) vs. Ayaka Okuno (UGA) 6-3, 5-3, unf.

6. Emily Zabor (UA) vs. Mia King (UGA) 6-3, 2-6, 0-1, unf.