“I think we just made a whole lot of people mad.”

Those were the words of head coach Manuel Diaz after the Bulldogs brought home the singles and doubles titles last month from the ITA Southeast Regional Championships in Lexington, Ky.

At a time when few expected the Bulldogs to have much success due to the early season struggles of top junior Nate Schnugg, the team accomplished a feat that had not been done since 2000.

The No. 12 ranked Schnugg, who lost his first three matches of the season before winning the singles title in Kentucky, attributed his slow start to a strenuous summer of tennis.

“I think the beginning of the fall was a residual effect from the summer,” Schnugg said. “I was still burned out from the summer and it definitely came out on the court. I wasn’t playing with a lot of heart, and my results showed it.”

Diaz admitted that he was initially worried about the play of his No. 1 singles player.

“I was a little concerned about his focus and intensity level at the beginning of the fall,” Diaz said. “He’s been coming on of late in practice and his focus started getting better. He’s motivated to be at his best against the best competition.”

Schnugg teamed with fellow junior Jamie Hunt, took the doubles crown at regionals, which automatically qualified the duo for this week’s National Indoor Tournament in Charlottesville, Va., and marked the first time since 2000 that a Bulldog won both the singles and doubles titles.

Diaz called the Bulldogs’ success at regionals “gratifying” but anticipates the big challenge that lies in front of his top Bulldogs this weekend.

“Anytime you test yourself against the best players in the nation, you are going to give it your best effort. These guys are competitors and anytime you get a great competitor, the bigger the stage, the bigger they are going to play,” Diaz said.

Even before committing to Georgia, Schnugg and Hunt won the 2006 U.S. Open Junior Doubles Tournament, so it really didn’t take a rocket scientist to keep them together as doubles partners in college, Diaz joked.

Schnugg attributed the duo’s success to the confidence and experience they have established playing together.

“We’ve been playing together for so long since we were 16 years old. We have a lot of confidence with each other,” Schnugg said. “We just step out on the court and we know we’re gonna win. It really doesn’t matter what anyone else does as long as we are on the top of our game.”

“Our strengths and weaknesses match up well with each other,” Hunt added. “Our chemistry is the best.”

Schnugg and Hunt look to become the third Bulldog team ever to win the doubles title at indoor championships.

Freshman superstar to face nation’s elite

Chelsey Gullickson looks to continue her hot streak as she travels to Charlottesville, Va. for the National Indoor Tournament beginning today.

Gullickson automatically qualified for the elite 32-player event after winning the ITA South Regional at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex last month.

“It’s exciting to have a freshman make the ITA National Indoors, and Chelsey already has 14 wins against some of the best players in the country,” Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace said. “She won a tough regional here winning six matches in three days.”

The championships will continue through Monday.