University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
#3 Georgia
Men's Tennis Drops SEC Home Opener 4-0
March 12, 2015 | Men's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The No. 55 Tennessee Volunteers (9-7, 1-3 SEC) fell 4-0 to the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs (12-2, 4-0 SEC) at Barksdale Stadium on Thursday.
The Southeastern Conference home opener didn't go as planned for the Vols as the Bulldogs stopped Tennessee's momentum early on.
In doubles, senior Andrew Dromsky and freshman Igor Smelyanski got things started for the Vols as they quickly defeated the No. 70 ranked team of Nathan Pasha and Eric Diaz 6-3 on court 2, but Georgia bounced back strong on court 1. The top-10 matchup of No. 2 Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese against No. 7 Austin Smith and Ben Wagland went in the Bulldogs favor with a 6-4 win.
The doubles point came down to the match on court 3. The team of sophomore Jack Schipanski and freshman Luis Valero were returning for match, but Wayne Montgomery and Paul Oosterbaan won four straight points to tie the match at 6-6, forcing a seven-point tiebreaker. Georgia pulled away in the tiebreaker winning the match 7-6 (3) and clinching the doubles point.
In singles, Tennessee started out slow as only Smelyanski won his first set. The sluggish start was too much for the Vols to overcome. Oosterbaan beat Dromsky 6-4, 6-0 on court 6, Nick Wood defeated Valero 6-1, 6-4 on court 4 and Smith fought off Reese's comeback to win 6-3, 6-4 on court 2, winning the match for Georgia.
"We are in a place where we know what we have to do," head coach Sam Winterbotham said after the match. "It's become clearer as the season has gone on where our deficiencies are and where our strengths are. We are in the process of correcting those deficiencies and using our strengths. The match today was against a very good team, and the truth is that if we did two things better, we can take that match. As the double points, we had four match points to clench the double's point, so the score line is a little bit misleading. I thought they played very well in singles. They managed their match well."
The Volunteers will be back in action on Saturday at 1 p.m. as they face the South Carolina Gamecocks at Barksdale Stadium or Goodfriend Tennis Center, pending on weather.
#3 Georgia 4, #55 Tennessee 0
Singles
1. #14 Mikelis Libietis, UT, vs. #17 Wayne Montgomery, UGA, 1-6, 6-4, 2-1 unf.
2. #30 Austin Smith, UGA, def. Hunter Reese, UT, 6-3, 6-4
3. #95 Jack Schipanski, UT, vs. #15 Nathan Pasha, UGA, 3-6, 5-5 unf.
4. Nick Wood, UGA, def. Luis Valero, UT, 6-1, 6-4
5. Igor Smelyanski, UT, vs. Ben Wagland, UGA, 6-4, 4-5 unf.
6. Paul Oosterbaan, UGA, def. Andrew Dromsky, UT, 6-4, 6-0
Doubles
1. #7 Smith/Wagland, UGA, def. #2 Libietis/Reese, UT, 6-4
2. Dromsky/Smelyanski, UT, def. #70 Diaz/Pasha, UGA, 6-3
3. Montgomery/Oosterbaan, UGA, def. Schipanski/Valero, UT, 7-6 (3)
Order of Finish Doubles (2, 1, 3); Singles (6, 4, 2)
