Wayne Montgomery serves the ball during an NCAA men’s tennis match between the University of Georgia and the University of Arkansas on Thursday, April 9, 2015 in Athens, Ga at the Jack Turner Softball complex. (Photo by Sean Taylor)
The Georgia men’s tennis team came in at No. 7 in the Oracle/ITA Collegiate preseason rankings released Tuesday.
Defending NCAA champion Virginia is ranked No. 1, followed by Oklahoma, TCU, Baylor, Texas A&M, Illinois, Georgia, USC, North Carolina and Ohio State to round out the top-10.
Sophomore Wayne Montgomery is the highest ranked Bulldog in singles at No. 20, followed by senior Austin Smith at No. 28, redshirt sophomore Paul Oosterbaan at No. 40, senior Nick Wood at No. 88 and freshman Walker Duncan at No. 105. In doubles, Smith and senior Ben Wagland are ranked No. 10, while Montgomery and freshman Emil Reinberg are No. 45.
The Bulldogs completed last season with a 24-5 record and won the program’s 29th SEC regular season championship and 38th overall while also reaching the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship. Georgia returns five players from its singles lineup last season.
Georgia returns to action at the MLK Invitational in Atlanta Jan. 16-18, and the Bulldogs will open the dual match season at the ITA Kickoff against UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 23.
Complete rankings are available here: http://www.itatennis.com/AwardsAndRankings/Rankings/2015-16_Oracle_ITA_Division_I_Men_s_Collegiate_Tennis_Rankings.htm