Tennessee Outlasts Bulldogs, 4-3

Sunday, March 25

Athens, GA

1:00 P.M.

University of Georgia

Tennessee

March 25, 2018 | Men's Tennis

ATHENS, Ga. — With the match tied at three, the No. 25 Tennessee
Volunteers edged past the No. 14 Georgia Bulldogs with a final victory
on the sixth court, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the Lindsey Hopkins
Indoor Courts.

"We played a great doubles point," Georgia head coach Manuel Diaz
said. "I think we're getting better there, and in singles a great
fight by all of our guys. Nathan Ponwith had a great match. He keeps
playing better and I'm very encouraged. He's getting back to where he
was last year. Today, it boiled down to the last two matches and we
competed extremely well ... You've got to give all the credit to
Tennessee. They played very courageous tennis and they were able to
win the bigger points today. Congratulations to them."

Georgia (9-7, 2-5) claimed the doubles point behind the Bulldogs'
performance on courts two and three. Senior Wayne Montgomery and
sophomore Nathan Ponwith made quick work of Andrew Rogers and Scott
Jones, 6-1.

Shortly after, the pair of redshirt freshman Alex Diaz and junior Emil
Reinberg clinched the point, 6-4, with a come-from-behind victory
against Tim Stodder and Adam Walton. With the score tied at four,
Georgia surged ahead behind Diaz's dominating net shots that kept
Tennessee (16-5, 5-2) unsettled on the court.

On court one, the No. 10 duo Robert Loeb and Jan Zielinski were tied
at four against No. 15 Luis Valero and Preston Touliatos when the
Bulldogs clinched the doubles point.

Tennessee tied the match at one with Adam Walton's early win over Jan
Zielinski, 6-2, 6-0, on court four, but Georgia regained the lead when
Nathan Ponwith broke serve to clinch a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Preston
Touliatos on the third court.

The Volunteers knotted the match once again as No. 55 Reinberg dropped
a hard fought battle to No.16 Tim Stodder on the first court, 1-6,
6-4, 3-6. The match continued to go back-and-forth as Montgomery
defeated Luis Valero on court two, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to give Georgia the
3-2 edge.

Tennessee responded with two consecutive singles victories to take the
match. Loeb fell to Scott Jones in the first set 6-1, but the Georgia
sophomore came back to handily win the second set 6-2 before Jones
took the final set 7-5.

The match came down to redshirt sophomore Alex Phillips and Luca
Wiedenmann on court six. Wiedenmann cruised passed Phillips 6-0 in the
first set, but Phillips kept the Bulldogs alive by taking the second
set 6-2. In the final frame, Wiedenmann outlasted Phillips, winning
6-3.

Next up, the Bulldogs return to the Dan Magill Tennis Complex to face
Mississippi State. The match takes place on Friday, March 30, at 5
p.m. and admission is free.

Tennis Match Results

Tennessee vs Georgia

March 25, 2018 at Athens, Ga.

(Dan Magill Tennis Complex)

#21 Georgia 4, #25 Tennessee 2

Singles Results

1. #16 Tim Stodder (TEN) def. #55 Emil Reinberg (UGA) 6-1, 4-6, 6-3

2. #15 Wayne Montgomery (UGA) def. Luis Valero (TEN) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2

3. #97 Nathan Ponwith (UGA) def. Preston Touliatos (TEN) 6-1, 6-3

4. Adam Walton (TEN def. #21 Jan Zielinski (UGA) 6-2, 6-0

5. Scott Jones (TEN) def. Robert Loeb (UGA) 1-6, 6-2, 7-5

6. Luca Wiedenmann (TEN) def. Alex Phillips (UGA) 6-0, 2-6, 6-3

Doubles Results

1. #10 Robert Loeb/Jan Zielinski (UGA) vs. #15 Luis Valero/Preston
Touliatos (TEN) 4-4 (uf)

2. Wayne Montgomery/Nathan Ponwith (UGA) def. Scott Jones/Andrew
Rogers (TEN) 6-1

3. Alex Diaz/Emil Reinberg (UGA) def. Tim Stodder/Adam Walton (TEN) 6-4

Match Notes:

Tennessee 16-5; National ranking #25

Georgia 9-7; National ranking #14

Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (4,3,1,2,5,6)

Attendance: 801