By KEVIN WUZZARDO
Staff Writer

With three of its past four opponents ranked among the top 15 in the nation, the last thing Georgia’s No. 3 women’s tennis team needed was a loss to No. 20 Arkansas. But that’s just what happened Thursday at Henry Feild Stadium as the Razorbacks took four of six singles matches en route to a 5-4 win.

"It’s a real disappointment to all of us," head coach Jeff Wallace said. "I just think that we’ve got to play better singles. Losing four singles (matches) to a team ranked (No.) 20 in the country is just inexcusable. Arkansas played great, but still, we’ve got to get three of those singles matches."

Marissa Catlin and Aarthi Venkatesan won at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively, for Georgia, but that success did not carry over to the other courts. Jane Reid, Christa Grey and Zoë Mellis all won their first set before losing. Lauren Rose fell in straight sets.

Despite being down 4-2 after singles, Georgia battled back to tie the match, winning the top two doubles. The match came down to No. 3 doubles, where Mellis and Grey, who lost a three hour marathon in singles 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 to Kendra Howard, had a chance to redeem themselves and their team.

With the match tied 3-3, Howard and Adriana Garcia won the next five games to win the match for Arkansas.

Venkatesan called the loss a wake-up call, and Wallace agreed.

"Absolutely it is," Wallace said. "It sure as heck better be. If it’s not, then it’ll happen again."

This weekend Georgia travels to the Magnolia state to play Mississippi State on Saturday and No. 7 Ole Miss on Sunday.

"This is where we find out what we’re made of," Wallace said. "It’s easy when you’re winning all the time. But when you’re faced with a little adversity, that’s where you find out what kind of team you have."