Although freshman Chelsey Gullickson has stolen many headlines for the No. 2 ranked Georgia women’s tennis team, fellow classmate Nadja Gilchrist has quietly put together a solid first season.

The 5-foot-7 native of Webster, N.Y., has a 24-8 mark and bullies her opponents with a powerful forehand that proves to be one of her biggest assets. Even Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace called Gilchrist’s forehand one of her stronger suits on the court.

“She’s got weapons, and she’s got a lot of power. She can be very, very dominating, and very, very intimidating,” Wallace said. “The key for Nadja is to pick the right times to really step it up and go for that big shot. Even when she backs off a little bit, she’s got a great shot.”

To her opponents, Gilchrist has one simple message: “Everyone keep hitting it to my forehand, so I can hit winners.”

“I like my forehand. I love it,” she said. “I don’t mind it. It took awhile to work on hitting that big ball.”

After a four-game losing streak from the top doubles team of Gullickson and Yvette Hyndman, Wallace tinkered with his lineup. In the process, he moved Gilchrist from 2-doubles to the No. 1 spot alongside Gullickson. Instantly, the two freshmen established a strong rapport on the court becoming the first duo of freshmen to play doubles in Wallace’s 24 years at Georgia.

“I love playing with Chelsey. We’re such a really good team. You know, I hope [coach Wallace] keeps it that way that we’ll always play No. 1,” Gilchrist said. “And, we have to keep our end of the bargain, too, by winning.”

“They both are pretty big hitters, and they’ll come to the net, and they put away their shots,” Wallace said. “They play it fairly aggressive. At the same time, they’ve hit good deep returns and decent serves. . With the shots they can hit, they can hurt you quick, and that’s what they do.”

In their first match together at 1-doubles, Gilchrist and Gullickson knocked off Baylor’s seventh-ranked duo of Lenka Broosova and Csilla Borsanyi 8-2.

Since that first victory, the pair has won four out of the last five, including a thrilling 9-7 comeback win over Georgia Tech’s 20th-ranked duo of Noelle Hickey and Christy Striplin.

Perhaps the biggest test of the dual match season for Wallace’s top doubles team will come today as the Bulldogs (13-2, 3-1 SEC) travel to Baton Rouge, La., to face the No. 21 LSU Tigers (10-4, 1-2 SEC).

The Tigers boast the 14th-ranked duo of Megan Falcon and Mykala Hedberg, a team that is 24-3 on the season and on a 12-match winning streak. Though Wallace acknowledged LSU has become a tough team to beat on the Bayou, he feels the play of his doubles team should be able to compete and contend.

“It seems like our doubles has even gotten better, so you know I’m pleased with how we’re all playing in doubles and with what we’ve done,” Wallace said.

Strong doubles play usually means good things for the Bulldogs – they are 11-0 in dual matches when they clinch the doubles point.