Depth is crucial to any winning sports team, and the Georgia women’s tennis team has a plethora of talent throughout its nine-person roster.
The Bulldogs have started 9-0 in the duals season, including an impressive run through tough competition, like No. 1-ranked North Carolina, to capture the ITA indoor national championship on Feb. 12.
On the surface, it looks like the No. 1-ranked singles player, Katarina Jokic, should be garnering all the praise, but Georgia has had role players step up time and time again when it counted the most.
Head coach Jeff Wallace pointed out instances such as Elena Christofi’s comeback from 5-1 down in the third set against No. 65-ranked Emily Smith of Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals to keep the Bulldogs’ national championship hopes going.
Wallace knows how helpful depth will be for the Bulldogs’ chances going forward and pointed out the importance of what he and the rest of the program calls “the pit.”
“The pit” is referring to the lower elevation of courts four, five and six compared to courts one, two and three at Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
“We just hung a plaque up outside at our courts here that says, ‘The pit: where championships are won,’” Wallace said. “That tells you how important we feel like it is down there at four, five and six.”
Vivian Wolff
Sophomore Vivian Wolff has featured on court four during the first nine matches of the dual season for the Bulldogs, with a strong 7-1 record.
In her freshman year, Wolff was in a limited role and only played four matches during dual season. Now, it seems she’s found her stride and is comfortable in her role for Georgia.
“I think she’s growing and maturing as an athlete and plays with so much more discipline both mentally and physically,” Wallace said. “[Wolff] has really become a new player, and her results show it.”
Elena Christofi
At court five, Elena Christofi has played a key part in the early success of the Bulldogs. Although she doesn’t have the best record on the team at 5-2 in the dual season, the Athens, Greece, native has won multiple crucial games and has had a healthy return after sustaining an injury in the fall.
Besides the results, Christofi feels like her and Marta Gonzalez, the eldest members of the team, have a done a good job by acting as leaders for the younger group and creating a good, competitive environment.
Meg Kowalski
Finally, court six has been occupied by Meg Kowalski to start the season, and it looks like it will be her spot going forward. She has maintained the only undefeated record on the team at 7-0 in the dual season, and Wallace isn’t surprised at all with the way she’s been playing.
“She does a lot of things right on the court, she is a hard worker, she’s very coachable and she really listens and applies what we’re trying to get her to do,” Wallace said. “You put all of those things together and you got somebody who’s going to generally do well.”
Wallace knew her skill set and competitiveness would translate well based on her play in early fall, but because the freshman was dealing with a knee injury for the majority of the fall, she’s now just getting comfortable playing for Georgia.
Outdoor Advantage
The Bulldogs have yet to play outdoors at Dan Magill Tennis Complex in the duals season, due to inclement weather moving play to the indoor courts.
The outdoor court advantage might be overlooked, but because there are six courts outdoor compared to the four courts indoor, Kowalski prefers playing simultaneously next to Wolff and Christofi in “the pit.”
“When we start playing in the pit we’re going to be bouncing energy off of each other, we’re motivating each other throughout the matches,” Kowalski explained. “Knowing that the person next to you is fighting for you, that’s definitely been awesome.”
Andrew Walsh 