The University of Georgia men’s tennis team is ranked No. 4 nationally in the 2018 Intercollegiate Tennis Association men’s tennis rankings, it was announced on Wednesday.

 

The Bulldogs, winners of five consecutive Southeastern Conference Championships, are the top-rated SEC team in the first poll of the dual-match season. Wake Forest is No. 1, followed by Ohio State at No. 2 and North Carolina at No. 3.

Georgia returns each letterwinner from a team that went 22-8 en route to a SEC regular season and tournament championship as well as a berth in the NCAA semifinals for the second-straight season. Among the returners are five All-SEC players, including 2017 SEC Freshman of the Year Nathan Ponwith, three-time All-SEC member Wayne Montgomery and 2017 ITA All-Americans Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski.

Head Coach Manuel Diaz enters his 30th season at the helm of the program. In addition to four NCAA National Championships and 41 total SEC crowns, Diaz’s teams have finished ranked in the final top-10 in 26 of 29 seasons, including the last seven years.

Joining Diaz is first-year associate head coach Jamie Hunt, who returned to his alma mater this past summer. Hunt spent seven seasons at Vanderbilt, including the last three as the associate head coach.

The Bulldogs begin the 2018 slate at the MLK/Georgia Tech Invitational on Jan. 13-15 in Atlanta.