University of Georgia Athletics
Five Bulldogs Featured In Final Oracle/ITA Rankings
June 01, 2016 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. - Georgia men's tennis senior Austin Smith finished the year with a season-high No. 12 national ranking in singles to earn ITA All-America honors, highlighting the Bulldogs' success in the final Oracle/ITA Rankings that were released on Wednesday.
Joining Smith is teammate Wayne Montgomery, who came in at No. 31, while sophomore Paul Oosterbaan finished ranked 66th and freshman Walker Duncan ended the year ranked No. 124. Pairing with fellow senior Ben Wagland, Smith is also ranked 11th in doubles.
The five Bulldogs helped the team to its fourth-straight Southeastern Conference Championship and a run to the NCAA Semifinals in 2016. Georgia, which finished the year undefeated in SEC play for the first time since the 2007 NCAA National Champions went 32-0, became just the 14th team in school history to finish with an unblemished conference record.
Smith, a native of Cumming, Ga., was the leader for the Bulldogs all season long, playing at the No. 1 position in both singles and doubles. He led the SEC in singles victories this season with 21 dual-match wins and finished his career at UGA ranked fifth all-time in Bulldog history in career singles wins with 129, while tying for ninth in program history with exactly 100 career doubles victories. Smith earned All-America honors by finishing in the top-20 in the ITA rankings.
Montgomery, Oosterbaan and Duncan all return to the Bulldog lineup next season. The trio was part of a group of underclassmen that finished with an impressive 34-13 singles record against SEC competition this season. In fact, Duncan was part of a freshman class that went 21-4 against league opponents during the 2016 dual-match campaign.
For more information on the Georgia men's tennis team throughout the offseason, follow the Bulldogs on Twitter (@UGATennis), Instagram (@ugatennis) and Facebook (UGA Men's Tennis).
