The 19th-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team continued its dominant opening to SEC play this season as the Bulldogs (9-3, 4-0) earned a 7-0 shutout victory at South Carolina (9-9, 1-3) on Friday.
 
 
With the victory, Georgia’s 2016 undefeated conference record remains intact while the Bulldogs improve to 37-6 all-time against the Gamecocks.
 
 
“Our guys played a complete match today,” said head coach Manuel Diaz. “We were good from warm-ups on. It was certainly tough on many courts and South Carolina challenged us at every position, but I’m proud of how everyone played out there today. Austin Smith continues to play outstanding tennis to lead the way for this team, and it was very good to see Wayne Montgomery really come through and find his game.”
 
 
Georgia’s No. 2 pair led the charge for the Bulldogs in doubles. The duo of Paul Oosterbaan and Jan Zielinski jumped out to a big lead on South Carolina’s Gabriel Friedrich and Sam Swank before closing out the match 6-1. Georgia’s fifth-ranked tandem of Austin Smith and Ben Wagland dispatched the Gamecocks’ Harrison O’Keefe and Alex Fennell 6-4 on court No. 1 to win the doubles point.
 
 
In singles, the Bulldogs’ 27th-ranked Smith improved his SEC record to 3-1 at the No. 1 spot with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Friedrich. Holding a 2-0 overall advantage, two Bulldog freshmen posted back-to-back victories to clinch the win. Zielinski topped the Gamecocks’ Thomas Mayronne 6-2, 6-4 at No. 5 before Emil Reinberg 2defeated Yancy Dennis 6-4, 6-4 at No. 6.
 
 
After the match was in hand, the teams played out the final three singles sets (all of which resulted in additional Bulldog victories). Georgia sophomore Wayne Montgomery overcame a slow start to outlast Andrew Schafer 1-6, 6-2, 6-1. Oosterbaan added to the Bulldogs lead with a 7-5, 7-6(2) victory over Fennell at No. 4. Freshman Walker Duncan capped the scoring with a 6-7(5), 7-6(2), 1-0(7) win over the Gamecocks’ Harrison O’Keefe.
 
 
Georgia will return home to face No. 4 Ohio State on Sunday at 2 p.m. in a matchup of top-20 non-conference foes. The Bulldogs lead the Buckeyes with a 13-4 record in the all-time series.