UGA Men’s Tennis: Georgia to Cap Six-Match Home Stretch Against Ole Miss, Mississippi State
ATHENS, Ga. – The 10th-ranked Georgia men’s tennis team is coming off quite the exciting week as it heads into this weekends’ conference clashes to conclude a six-match home stretch. The Bulldogs take on No. 11 Ole Miss Friday, March 6, at 2:30 p.m. at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex before returning Sunday, March 8, to face 41st-ranked Mississippi State at 1 p.m.
Georgia, 4-0 at home, returns to the courts after making an impressive leap in the rankings. The Bulldogs jumped from No. 35 to No. 10 after knocking off No. 3 Ohio State and No. 10 Tennessee over a span of three days. Bulldog head coach Manuel Diaz managed an impressive feat of his own last weekend. Diaz recorded his 707th career win against the Buckeyes to surpass Bulldog great Dan Magill’s all-time win record (706), becoming the all-time winningest coach in SEC history.
Georgia (7-2, 1-0) welcomes the 11th-ranked Rebels Friday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. Ole Miss heads to Athens 10-2 overall and 1-0 in the SEC after taking down Arkansas (4-3) last Sunday, March 1.
Sunday’s contest features a battle of the Bulldogs as Georgia goes head-to-head against the Bulldogs of Mississippi State (9-4, 1-0) at 1 p.m. It will mark back-to-back road matches for Mississippi State, its first taking place Friday, March 6, at 19th-ranked Tennessee.
BULLDOG BITES
• Georgia was named this week’s USTA Team of the Week.
• The Bulldogs are currently on a four-match win streak after taking victories in all four matches last week (Feb. 25-26, Feb. 28, March 1).
• Freshman Tyler Zink and sophomore Philip Henning of the Georgia men’s tennis team swept this week’s Southeastern Conference (SEC) weekly honors. Zink was named SEC Freshman of the Week, while Henning was dubbed SEC Player of the Week.
• Henning defeated John NcNally, the 7th-ranked player in the nation, to clinch UGA’s win against OSU. He is Georgia’s highest-ranked Bulldog at No. 11 and leads UGA with six wins against nationally-ranked opponents. Sophomore Trent Bryde, ranked 12th in ITA singles, has recorded five.
• Bryde and Zink, who have bolted out to a 7-1 start at the top court, are now ranked 15th.
• Sophomore Blake Croyder and Henning have won five-straight matches and are now ranked 26th nationally.
• Zink is the 80th-ranked singles player in the nation, while Croyder is No. 88.
• Dating back to the 2019 dual-match season, Croyder has won 15-straight singles matches. He is currently 7-0 thanks to a seven-match win streak for the 2019-20 dual season.
• Henning paces the Bulldogs in overall wins with 19. Freshman Erik Grevelius follows with 18 total wins.
For more information on the Bulldogs, follow Georgia tennis on Twitter (@UGAtennis) and Instagram (@ugatennis).