The 10th-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team are on the road today for a top-10 battle with the No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes at the OSU Varsity Tennis Center at 12 p.m.
 
The last two times out against the Buckeyes have been winning efforts for Georgia, including last year’s victory in Athens over then-No. 4 Ohio State. The Buckeyes were the highest-ranked team the Bulldogs took down during the regular season in 2016. It was Paul Oosterbaan who would clinch the 4-2 victory for Georgia with a 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4 win on No. 3 over No. 65 Chris Diaz to continue the Bulldogs’ win streak that would eventually reach 16 matches.
 
 
MONTGOMERY RISES TO No. 16:

Following three straight victories over ranked opponents, Wayne Montgomery has risen from No. 22 up to No. 15 in the ITA/Oracle Singles Rankings, released Feb. 8. Among the other players in the top 20, only one took a bigger jump from the last edition of the rankings to this one. Beginning with the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, Montgomery took down ranked opponents in Georgia’s next three matches: Gergely Madarasz of Purdue, who was then ranked No. 49; Washington’s Mitch Stewart, No. 60; and UCLA’s Gage Brymer, No. 11. Brymer is the highest-ranked opponent the junior has defeated since knocking off Thai Son Kwiatowski of Virginia back at the USTA/ITA National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, who was ranked fourth. Montgomery’s spot at No. 15 is the highest ranking achieved by a Bulldog since Austin Smith finished last season ranked 12th.
 
 
CLASH OF THE TITANS:

When Georgia takes on Ohio State, it will be the Bulldogs’ third consecutive match against a team ranked in the top 10 of the Oracle/ITA Team Rankings. Last weekend, Georgia fell to sixth-ranked UCLA and No. 8 USC at the SEC/Pac-12 Showdown in Gainesville, Fla. Outside of the two major national tournaments (National Indoors, NCAA Championships), Georgia has not played three consecutive top-10 teams since the 2000 SEC Tournament. In that event, the Bulldogs defeated LSU (then-ranked 10) and Tennessee (7) before losing a tight match, 4-3, to Florida (3).
 
 
USTA JOINS THE RANKINGS GAME:

Georgia is ranked 10th in both the Oracle/ITA Team Rankings as well as the inaugural USTA College Tennis Top 25, with both polls being released Feb. 8th. The Bulldogs received 94 points in the USTA poll, determined by the sum of ranking points from the USTA’s panel of eight voters. The rankings will be released each Wednesday through the conclusion of the NCAA Division I season in May. Seven future opponents on Georgia’s schedule were featured in the polls: Ohio State (No. 3 in ITA/No. 2 in USTA), Wake Forest (2/T3), Florida (6/T3), Kentucky (15/14), Mississippi State (16/16), Ole Miss (23/NR) and Texas A&M (25/21).
 
 
CLICK HERE for live scoring of the Bulldogs versus Buckeyes men’s tennis match.
 
 
And for the match notes, CLICK HERE.