The fifth-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team will play host to East Tennessee State Thursday at 2:30 p.m., in the final non-conference match of the regular season. The Bulldogs are 7-2 in non-conference matches this season with wins over then-No. 4 UCLA and current No. 2 Illinois. This is the eighth consecutive year that Georgia has played ETSU. UGA won 7-0 a year ago in Athens.
[su_spacer size=”40″] LAST TIME OUT: Georgia completed another weekend sweep in the SEC with a pair of road wins against Tennessee and Kentucky. Austin Smith clinched the win against Tennessee, and he won three matches in the two road contests. Smith and Ben Wagland beat the nation’s No. 2-ranked doubles team earlier in the match against UT. Wagland provided the clincher against Kentucky. The Bulldogs fell behind 2-0 to UK, but rallied by winning four consecutive matches in singles.
[su_spacer size=”40″] RANKINGS: Georgia came in at No. 5 in this week’s ITA Rankings. Three Bulldogs are ranked in the top-30 in singles: Nathan Pasha is No. 15, Wayne Montgomery is No. 17 and Austin Smith is No. 30. Four doubles teams are ranked: Smith and Ben Wagland are No. 7, Wagland and Paul Oosterbaan are No. 31, Smith and Eric Diaz are 62nd, and Pasha and Diaz are ranked No. 70.
[su_spacer size=”40″] NOTEWORTHY

• Nick Wood leads the team with 10 dual match singles wins and also in match clinchers with four.

• Georgia’s freshmen are a combined 7-1 in SEC singles matches. Paul Oosterbaan is 4-0, Wayne Montgomery is 2-1 and Peter Bertran is 1-0. Oosterbaan is tied for the team lead with his four SEC wins. Wayne Montgomery has been named SEC Freshman of the Week three times.

• Nathan Pasha needs three more wins to move into a tie for 10th on the all-time career doubles wins list at UGA. He is currently 95-42. Pasha has won eight consecutive completed matches in singles, and he leads the team with 12 wins against ranked opponents.

• Austin Smith leads the Bulldogs with 16 combined singles and doubles wins against ranked opponents.

• Georgia’s No. 1 doubles team of Smith and Ben Wagland are 7-1 this season with wins against teams ranked Nos. 1, 2, 8, 11, 12 and 47.
[su_spacer size=”40″] UP NEXT: The Bulldogs will begin the second half of their SEC schedule with a home match against South Carolina Sunday at 1 p.m. Georgia will play three consecutive home matches beginning with Thursday’s contest against ETSU.