(Photo by David Barnes)
The 17th-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team hits the road this weekend with a trip to Nashville, Tennessee to face Vanderbilt at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday at the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center.
Georgia is 51-5 all-time against Vanderbilt, including a 4-1 win in Athens last season. The match serves as Georgia first outdoor and conference bout on the road. The Bulldogs are a perfect 6-0 this season in matches played in Athens, including 2-0 in conference matches.
OOSTERBAAN NAMED SEC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Redshirt-sophomore Paul Oosterbaan was named SEC Player of the Week on March 9. The Kalamazoo, Michigan native led Georgia to a pair of ranked wins over conference opponents to kick off SEC play. Oosterbaan went 2-0 on the weekend in singles action, defeating two ranked opponents. The redshirt-sophomore took down Mississippi State’s Rishab Agarwal, who was ranked No. 74 and riding an eight-match win streak at the time, 6-2, 6-4, He followed that by handily beating Alabama’s Becker O’Shaughnessy 6-0, 6-2. He also teamed up with Freshman Jan Zielinski in doubles for one victory against Alabama’s duo of Becker O’Shaughnessey and Grayson Goldin.
RANKINGS: Three Georgia singles players and two doubles duo’s earned spots in the latest Oracle/ITA College Tennis Rankings. The doubles pair of Ben Wagland and Austin Smith remained at No. 5 nationally after going 2-0 in Georgia’s conference opening weekend. Wayne Montgomery and Emil Reinberg came in at No. 62 in doubles, their first ranking of the outdoor season. In singles, Montgomery led all Bulldogs coming in at No. 25, Smith remained at 27 and freshman Walker Duncan rounded out the ranking at No. 120.
BULLDOG FRESHMEN SHINE: Three Georgia freshmen have seen consistent time in the Bulldog’s lineup this season. The trio of Walker Duncan, Emil Reinberg and Jan Zielinski have combined for 11 singles wins in dual action and played a part in nine doubles victories. Reinberg clinched UGA’s victory vs. ETSU with a 6-3, 7-5 on the No. 6 court. Zielinski did the same in UGA’s match against Alabama, after trailing 5-2 in the second set he ripped of five straight games to secure the Bulldogs’ victory 6-3, 7-5.
SMITH EARNS HONOR: No. 28-ranked senior Austin Smith was named SEC Player of the Week on Jan. 27 after going 2-0 in singles and 2-0 in doubles as he helped Georgia punch its ticket to the ITA National Indoor Championships. The Cumming, Georgia, native clinched UGA’s 4-1 win against No. 44 Memphis with a three-set victories against the Tigers’ No. 87-ranked Andrew Watson at the top singles spot.
UP NEXT: The Bulldogs return to action on Friday, March 18 when they head to Columbia to face the University of South Carolina at 5 p.m. ET. Georgia rounds out the weekend with a home-match against second-ranked Ohio State on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.