Not even the cold, snowy weather outside could cool down the red-hot Georgia men’s tennis team inside the Hopkins Indoor Center Sunday afternoon.

Fresh off a 7-0 romp of in-state rival Georgia Tech Friday, the No. 2-ranked Bulldogs (11-1) cruised to a 5-1 victory over the No. 72-ranked Furman Paladins (6-6) Sunday after play was moved indoors as a result of the snow.

Clinching the match for Georgia was sophomore Drake Bernstein after he made quick work of Furman’s Jordan Walters, 6-1, 6-2, for his 20th win of the season. The win marks the first time Bernstein has clinched a match for the Bulldogs in his young career.

“It’s good [to finally clinch a match],” Bernstein said. “I’ve always been around or been close to it. One time I had a chance, I ended up losing a couple of games. But, to finally get one feels good, and hopefully, I can get one in a big match soon.”

Although they faced a stiffer challenge than even head coach Manuel Diaz expected, Georgia struggled very little throughout the afternoon.

The No. 7-ranked Bulldog doubles team of Jamie Hunt and Nate Schnugg kicked off the match with a 8-3 toppling of Furman’s Andy Juc and Chris Motes to improve their dual match record to 7-3. Moments later, Bernstein teamed with partner Javier Garrapiz to clinch the doubles point with a 8-6 victory over Andrei Chvetsov and Chris Rhyne giving Georgia a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.

“We worked extremely hard at every spot. I was very happy with our doubles. We played an excellent doubles point, and maybe that wasn’t as much of a grind,” Diaz said. “In singles, [Furman] are as good anybody we’ve played in this young season. They made us work really hard.”

In singles, Hunt and Schnugg picked up where they left off continuing their strong play into the singles portion of the match. Both notched straight-set victories with the former beating Juc 6-1, 6-4 at 1-singles while the latter defeated Bo Ladyman 7-6(4), 6-2 in a tough match at No. 2 to give Georgia a 3-0 lead. The No. 58-ranked Hunt moved to 7-2 in singles dual match play while the 11th-ranked Schnugg earned his 25th win of the season.

Furman’s Daniel Krause booted sophomore Borja Malo 6-4, 6-3, but Furman had no chance of pulling off the upset as Bernstein had already won the first set against Walters in dominating fashion.

With the weather outside worsening, the flickering lights indoors became an issue for players on both teams as singles play continued into the early evening. At one point, one group of the lights went out, but the absence of the lighting didn’t seem to deter the focus of Bernstein.

“With the lights dimming, you just got to try to stay keyed in on your match. And, they train us to do that,” Bernstein said. “There are times when it’s crazy because you think we are inside here playing tennis and there’s a foot of snow outside. But, for the most part, we’re pretty focused in so it’s a little easier being indoors.”

Added Diaz: “I felt the lights flickering throughout the match, and I didn’t know how long we were going to be able to go. But, it was good to get it in.”

For the men, the focus shifts to next Friday as they travel to Oxford, Miss. to face the No. 9-ranked Rebels for the first SEC dual match of the season.

“Right now, I’m more concerned with our team just getting a little rest and licking our wounds [before Ole Miss.]