The 16^th-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team (6-3, 1-0 SEC) avenged last season’s loss to Mississippi State (8-3, 0-1 SEC) on Friday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex, defeating the visiting Bulldogs 5-2 to start the SEC portion of its schedule.
 
 
Georgia won the doubles point and four singles matches to take the victory. The Bulldogs have now won their SEC opener in seven straight years.
 
 
“We came in well-prepared,” head coach Manuel Diaz said. “It’s a fast league and everybody is going to challenge you. I thought that we were ready. I was very happy with the way that we competed. We came out with good energy both in doubles and in singles. We had a few patches in doubles where we could’ve done things a little bit better, but our Nos. 1 and 3 really came through under pressure. Our guys competed tough and I’m proud of winning the doubles point although we still have some things we can do a little bit better.”
 
 
The hometown Bulldogs dropped a match on court No. 2 to start doubles play, but rebounded on courts 1 and 3 to come from behind and take the point. Seniors and No. 5-ranked pair Austin Smith and Ben Wagland got an early break and coasted to a 6-4 victory over Mississippi State’s Nuno Borges and Niclas Braun. After a slow start saw Georgia’s Emil Reinberg and Wayne Montgomery fall behind 4-2, the tandem won four straight games to knock off Mississippi State’s Rishab Argawal and Vaughn Hunter 6-4.
 
 
In singles, Georgia opened up a large advantage by taking first sets on all six courts. Paul Oosterbaan was the first off the court after dispatching Mississippi State’s No. 74 Agarwal 6-2, 6-4. No. 104 Walker Duncan quickly followed suit in a 7-5, 6-2 defeat of Trevor Foshey at No. 5 to give Georgia the 3-0 advantage. Senior Nick Wood provided the match-clinching victory at No. 6, topping Mississippi State’s Luka Sucevic 6-1, 7-6(3). No. 21 Montgomery capped Georgia’s victories at No. 2 with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Borges.
 
 
The victory improved Georgia to 55-13 all-time against Mississippi State. Georgia will host Alabama in the second game of its SEC slate on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Georgia leads Alabama in the all-time series 53-6.
 
 
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Tennis Match Results

Mar 04, 2016 at Athens, Ga.

(Dan Magill Tennis Complex)

#16 Georgia defeats #50 Mississippi State (5-2)

Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,5,6,2,1,4)

Official: Clark Weaver; T-2:42  A-294

 
 
 Singles competition

1. #44 Mate Cutura (MSU) def. #27 Austin Smith (UGA) 1-6, 6-4, 6-3
2. #21 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. Nuno Borges (MSU) 6-4, 7-5
3. Paul Oosterbaan (UGA) def. #74 Rishab Agarwal (MSU) 6-2, 6-4
4. Niclas Braun (MSU) def. Jan Zielinski (UGA) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
5. #104 Walker Duncan (UGA) def. Trevor Foshey (MSU) 7-5, 6-2
6. Nick Wood (UGA) def. Luka Sucevic (MSU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-3)

 
 
 Doubles competition

1. #5 Austin Smith/Ben Wagland (UGA) def. Nuno Borges/Niclas Braun (MSU) 6-4
2. Mate Cutura/Trevor Foshey (MSU) def. Paul Oosterbaan/Jan Zielinski (UGA) 6-3
3. Emil Reinberg/Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. Rishab Agarwal/Vaughn Hunter (MSU) 6-4