While the Georgia Gym Dogs welcome in first-year head coach Jay Clark to take over the reigns from Suzanne Yoculan, the Gym Dogs will not back away from their always-challenging schedule for the 2010 season.

Georgia will be going for its jaw-dropping sixth straight national championship, 11th overall, and will face seven teams that competed in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, including two teams that made it to the Super Six.

The Gym Dogs start the season with a home meet against West Coast powerhouse Stanford in Stegeman Coliseum before a three-meet streak that will take the Gym Dogs to Alabama, Utah and Auburn.

Georgia will get back to Athens for two meets in a row, the first against Kentucky, followed by a highly anticipated meet against one of the aforementioned Super Six teams, Arkansas.

Georgia will then travel to Gainesville, Fla. to face the Gators before coming back home for another meet against a Super Six opponent in Lousiana State.

The Gym Dogs will then finish out their schedule with meets at home against UCLA, at Michigan and then at home against North Carolina State, before the Southeastern Conference Championships in Jacksonville.

“A lot of our historical SEC rivalries are on the road this year, but Super Six teams Arkansas and LSU are coming in to Athens, as well as UCLA and Stanford, which are perennial powers on the west coast,” Clark told UGA sports communication. “It’s a good schedule for us,” he said.

Soccer’s Perry named Freshman of the Week for SEC

Georgia Freshman Rebekah Perry was named Freshman of the Week by the Southeastern Conference after an impressive weekend on the field.

Perry has now started the first three games of the season for the No. 16 Bulldogs and scored her first collegiate goal in Georgia’s 2-0 win over No. 17 Minnesota on Aug. 28.

In her first game as a Bulldog, Perry had an assist against Kennesaw State to help Georgia to a 6-1 victory that night.

The award was the second time a Georgia player has been honored this season after senior Carrie Patterson was named SEC Player of the Week last week.

Soccer adds new coach

Perry wasn’t the only news for Georgia Soccer Monday, as head coach Patrick Baker named Suzanne Baldwin, a former Dartmouth All-American, to a volunteer coaching position.

Baldwin spent the previous four seasons in the same position with the Michigan State Spartans. She was a 1998 finalist for the Honda Award.