Georgia’s men’s tennis team kept its unblemished SEC record intact as the 11th-ranked Bulldogs took down No. 18 Kentucky by a 6-1 score Sunday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
 
 
Senior Austin Smith delivered the match-clincher for Georgia with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Kentucky’s 27th-ranked William Bushamuka at the No. 1 singles position to improve the Bulldogs’ record to 12-3 overall and a perfect 6-0 in SEC play.
 
 
Georgia has now won eight-straight matches this season and will travel to College Station, Texas, to take on No. 7 Texas A&M on Friday at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT.
 
 
Kentucky, who entered Sunday’s contest on a three-match win streak after downing No. 10 Illinois this past Tuesday, falls to 14-5 overall and 4-3 against league competition.
 
 
“I’m happy because we are performing at a very high level”, head coach Manuel Diaz said. “We are playing very consistently right now and the consistency we have shown in doubles has been tremendous. Our level of play is very high and our team is playing with a good bit of maturity. We have a big challenge coming up in Texas A&M.”
 
 
The Bulldogs got two strong performances from the top two courts en route to claiming the doubles point for the 12th time this season.
 
 
Georgia’s 58th-ranked duo of Paul Oosterbaan and Jan Zielinski won their sixth-straight doubles match by taking down Kentucky’s duo of William Bushamuka and Gus Benson, 6-1. Georgia then clinched the doubles point with a 6-3 victory from the No. 5-ranked team of Austin Smith and Ben Wagland at the top position.
 
 
Wayne Montgomery and Emil Reinberg were up 5-4 at the time the doubles point was clinched.
 
 
In singles, Oosterbaan rebounded from a Friday loss to deliver the first triumph for the Bulldogs as he took down Kentucky’s Nils Ellefsen, 7-5, 6-2, at the third court. UGA senior Nick Wood then put Georgia up 3-1 with his 6-4, 6-2 victory, before Smith delivered his match-clinching 6-3, 7-5 win at the top spot.
 
 
Following Georgia’s trip to Texas on Friday, the Bulldogs head to LSU to face the 49th-ranked Tigers at 12:30 p.m. ET/11:30 a.m. CT on Sunday, before returning home for matches against Florida and Auburn on April 8 and 10.
 
 
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For more information on the Georgia men’s tennis team, follow the team on Twitter (@UGATennis), Instagram (@ugatennis) and Facebook (UGA Men’s Tennis).
 
 

Tennis Match Results

#11 Georgia defeats #18 Kentucky (6-1)

March 27, 2016 at Athens, Ga.

(Dan Magill Tennis Complex)

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

Official: Clark Weaver  T-2:14  A-257

 
 
Singles Results
 
1. #35 Austin Smith (UGA) def. #27 William Bushamuka (UK) 6-3, 7-5

2. Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) def. #34 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) 6-3, 6-2

3. Paul Oosterbaan (UGA) def. Nils Ellefsen (UK) 7-5, 6-2

4. #120 Walker Duncan (UGA) def. Trey Yates (UK) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3

5. Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. Enzo Wallart (UK) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0

6. Nick Wood (UGA) def. Jake Stefanik (UK) 6-4, 6-2
 
 
Doubles Results
 

1. #5 Austin Smith/Ben Wagland (UGA) def. Enzo Wallart/Nils Ellefsen (UK) 6-3

2. #58 Paul Oosterbaan/Jan Zielinski (UGA) def. William Bushamuka/Gus Benson (UK) 6-1

3. Wayne Montgomery/Emil Reinberg (UGA) vs. Ryotaro Matsumura/Austin Hussey (UK) 5-4, unfinished