[su_spacer size=”40″] The win sees the Bulldogs through to the quarterfinal stage of the NCAA Championships for the 10th time in eleven seasons. They will face 2014 finalist and current No. 1 seed Oklahoma in the semifinals today at 1 p.m. Eastern.
[su_spacer size=”40″] “We’re really proud of our guys,” said head coach Manuel Diaz. “We played a good Texas team who fought tooth and nail with us. One of the things we talked about the last couple of days is we need to be ready for anything. We knew rain would be an issue, and there may be some stoppages. We talked about not letting things that we couldn’t control affect us and staying focused and continuing to fight through all of these things. Our guys have learned to deal with situations like this.”
[su_spacer size=”40″] Despite seeing play suspended twice by the presence of rain showers in the area, the Bulldogs managed to quickly wrap up the doubles point with wins by senior Nathan Pasha and freshman Wayne Montgomery on court 2 and senior Eric Diaz and freshman Paul Oosterbaan on court 3.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Diaz and Oosterbaan finished first with an 8-4 win over Nick Naumann and Michael Riechmann to give Georgia the early advantage. Pasha and Montgomery clinched the doubles point shortly thereafter as Montgomery’s volley gave the duo an 8-3 victory over George Goldhoff and Jacoby Lewis. The court 1 matchup between Georgia’s No. 1 ranked tandem of Austin Smith and Ben Wagland and the Longhorns’ No. 19 ranked pair of Lloyd Glasspool and Søren Hess-Olesen went unfinished at 5-5.
[su_spacer size=”40″] With Georgia up 1-0, play was moved indoors midway through the singles matches after a rain shower and subsequent lightning delay suspended play.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Pasha (31) was just two points away at the time of delay and quickly closed out his match on court 3 after moving indoors. The senior won 6-3, 6-2 over Adrian Berkowicz (54), doubling the Georgia advantage and giving the Atlanta native his thirteenth win over a ranked opponent this season.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Smith (30) was the second to finish singles, winning 6-3, 7-6(5) over Glasspool (42) in a tiebreaker at the end of the second set. His win on court 2 extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 3-0, leaving it open for Montgomery, Wagland, junior Nick Wood, or Oosterbaan to clinch on one of the remaining courts.
[su_spacer size=”40″] The Longhorns managed to put together a brief rally, however, as Goldhoff defeated Wagland 6-3, 6-4 on court 4 to pull a point back for Texas, and Olesen (4) came back from 6-4 down in a second set tiebreaker to tie Montgomery (24) at one set apiece on court 1.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Any momentum the Longhorns might have gained was undone by the stellar play of Wood, though, as the Knoxville, Tenn., native grinded out a 7-6(5), 7-5 win after facing 5-1, 5-2 deficits in the first two sets. The Georgia junior leads the team with seven match clinchers this season.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Montgomery led Hess-Olesen 5-3 in the third set, and Oosterbaan was up 2-1 in the third when Georgia’s 101st all-time NCAA Tournament win was clinched.
[su_spacer size=”40″] Oklahoma, Georgia’s next opponent, held off UCLA 4-3 in a match that also finished indoors. The Sooners are coached by a pair of former Georgia standouts in head coach John Roddick and associate head coach Bo Hodge. Roddick is also a former Bulldog assistant coach under Diaz, while Hodge served as volunteer coach on Georgia’s last NCAA title team in 2008.
[su_spacer size=”40″] #8 GEORGIA (24-4) def. #9 TEXAS (21-7), 4-1 – Hurd Tennis Center Riverside Courts and Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center
[su_spacer size=”40″] Doubles (Order of finish: 3, 2)
1. #1 Austin Smith/Ben Wagland (GEORGIA) vs. #19 Lloyd Glasspool/Søren Hess-Olesen (TEXAS), 5-5, UNF
2. Wayne Montgomery/Nathan Pasha (GEORGIA) def. George Goldhoff/Jacoby Lewis (TEXAS), 8-3
3. Eric Diaz/Paul Oosterbaan (GEORGIA) def. Nick Naumann/Michael Riechmann (TEXAS), 8-4
[su_spacer size=”40″] Singles (Order of finish: 3, 2, 4, 5)
1.#24 Wayne Montgomery (GEORGIA) vs. #86 Søren Hess-Olesen (TEXAS), 7-6 (5), 6-7 (6), 5-3, UNF
2. #30 Austin Smith (GEORGIA) def. #42 Lloyd Glasspool (TEXAS), 6-3, 7-6 (5)
3. #31 Nathan Pasha (GEORGIA) def. #54 Adrian Berkowicz (TEXAS), 6-3, 6-2
4. George Goldhoff (TEXAS) def. Ben Wagland (GEORGIA), 6-3, 6-4
5. Nick Wood (GEORGIA) def. Nick Naumann (TEXAS), 7-6 (5), 7-5
6. Paul Oosterbaan (GEORGIA) vs. Clement Homs (TEXAS), 3-6, 7-5, 2-1, UNF