University of Georgia Athletics
Bulldogs Delivered Big Against Buckeyes
March 21, 2016 | Men's Tennis
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By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Manuel Diaz's emphatic fist pump after Nick Wood won his match at No. 5 singles told you something about the No. 19-ranked Georgia men's tennis team's meeting with No. 4 Ohio State on Sunday afternoon.
When you're Manny Diaz and you've been coaching the Dogs for nearly 30 years, and coached four national championship teams and been an assistant for two more, you don't throw the big fist pump in a run-of-the-mill regular-season match.
Sunday was different -- playing the Buckeyes was a chance for "a statement win," Diaz later said -- and Georgia's 4-2 victory at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex was loaded with a lot more meeting than just capturing the Bulldogs' sixth straight victory and pushing their record to 10-3. It was an affirmation for a squad that is starting to play its best tennis.
"To win in this kind of environment, in this atmosphere, with all these fans and with a big match on the line, that always helps with the confidence," Wood said.
Georgia isn't a home underdog very often, but the Buckeyes came in a stout 16-1, their only loss coming a month before to North Carolina (now ranked No. 2) in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The Buckeyes are national championship contenders and they played like this was a heavyweight match, as well.
But the Bulldogs were a little better, and the difference might have been the large and lively home crowd. Adding to the "Big Match" feel of the day was the crowd of about 1,000 inside Henry Feild Stadium, many of them huddling together for warmth on an increasingly cool and windy day.
The intensity of the matches, the energy of the crowd, it was Georgia tennis at its finest. It all felt like an NCAA semifinal match, not a mid-March non-conference test.
A few minutes after Diaz's fist pump, Paul Oosterbaan was serving for his match at No. 3 singles. Meanwhile, at No. 6, Jan Zielinski was in a third-set tiebreaker.
The players clearly felt that Oosterbaan would finish things first because they gathered at the edge of court three, ready to storm. They didn't have to wait too long.
Oosterbaan, a sophomore that mostly played No. 6 last season, quickly went out in front and closed out the three-setter with an overhead winner off the court, clinching a 4-2 Dogs victory and sparking what felt like a postseason celebration. It's usually easy to spot the 6-foot-7 Oosterbaan, but not when most of his team is jumping all over him.
"We've all been looking forward to this match since the schedule came out and we knew it was going to be a big one," Oosterbaan said. "We've been working hard and it's good to have the results pay off, and I think everyone's real excited with the win today."
Zielinski was up in the tiebreaker at No. 6, so if Oosterbaan hadn't gotten it done when he did, the celebratory pack of Bulldogs may have been charging after the freshman on court six.
Georgia's No. 19 ranking is a bit deceiving, and the Dogs, with a top-5 win, will likely jump up closer to No. 10 when the next rankings are released Tuesday. Georgia has lost just three times in dual match play, twice to UCLA (now ranked No. 5) in a short span between Jan. 30 and Feb. 12, and once to No. 8 Texas Tech.
When those three losses happened, freshman Walker Duncan, who lost a three-setter at No. 4 Sunday, was out with an injury, while Wood, the senior, missed one of the matches and was just coming back from a wrist injury in the other two. Georgia is a different team now, fully stocked, and its results show it.
What has also hurt the Dogs' ranking is their SEC schedule to date. Georgia, 4-0 in SEC play, is the only team in the league without a loss in conference play. But the only SEC team currently ranked that Georgia has beaten is No. 25 Mississippi State. Before Sunday Georgia was winning matches, but not getting a rankings boost from them. Rankings are done by computer and award (or subtract) points for each result.
"I knew our team was coming on and I knew that we were getting healthier, obviously, after the start of the indoor season, but to really be able to do it [against an elite team] ...," Diaz said. "This, honestly, was a lot of pressure on our guys. It was basically one of the few opportunities left to really make a statement, to have a statement win, to beat a program that is in the top four or five in the nation.
"Right now, as it stands, that was our last opportunity to make a mark for ourselves."
And the Bulldogs did. That matters for their confidence and it matters when it comes to the rankings and the creation of the NCAA tournament bracket.
Georgia likely won't get a crack at another top-5 win, but still on the schedule are several top-25 opponents: No. 17 Kentucky; at No. 9 Texas A&M, the SEC's highest ranked team; No. 24 Florida; and a regular-season ending road trip at No. 13 Arkansas and at No. 22 Ole Miss.
The Bulldogs host Tennessee on Friday and Kentucky on Sunday.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
