UT in position for SEC tennis titles

Both Tennessee tennis teams will be playing for SEC tournament championships today.

The sixth-ranked Vols pulled off the first upset of the men's event at Auburn's Yarbrough Tennis Center, beating No. 4 Georgia 4-1 and will face top-seed Ole Miss in today's final.

The No. 10 Lady Vols, meanwhile, knocked off Ole Miss 4-1 in Fayetteville, Ark., and play top-seeded Georgia next.

"It was another SEC battle,'' said UT men's coach Sam Winterbotham. "Every match in this league comes down to the wire and today was no different.''

The Vols (21-5) won the doubles point and extended their record to 16-0 when taking the point.

Singles victories by Christian Hansen and John-Patrick Smith gave Tennessee a shot at victory and Matt Brewer came from behind for the clincher at No. 6 singles, beating Christian Vitulli 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

"I felt really great, especially since we took a hard loss at Georgia last week,'' said Brewer, referring to a 5-2 loss in Athens, Ga., last Saturday. "Today was really a team effort and all about sticking together down on the court. I feel like we played our best match of the year as far as coming together."

Georgia coach Manuel Diaz gave credit to the Vols.

"They are a good team, they played with a lot of belief today and were the better team," he said.

The Vols are 2-2 when playing in the SEC championship match with their last title coming in 2002.

The Lady Vols (17-5) were dominant against Ole Miss at the Dills Indoor Tennis Center , reaching the tournament final for the first time since 2001, when they lost to Georgia in Starkville, Miss.

"We've played a little tight in these first two matches, so we just need to go out there, relax and play our game,'' Lady Vols co-head coach Mike Patrick said. "These opportunities don't come along all that often, so we will try to take full advantage and enjoy every minute of it."

UT's Maria Sorbello scored the clincher with a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Mimi Renaudin at No. 6 singles.

Caitlin Whorisky and Samantha Orlin of UT had straight-set victories in singles.

"It's a great feeling to have another opportunity to play Georgia for the SEC championship," Orlin said. "This program has really come a long way since my freshman year and I could not be more proud of what we have accomplished this season. Everyone has a lot of confidence going into the match (today)."