Georgia Tennis’ Wayne Montgomery is SEC Freshman of the Year
Georgia tennis’ prize freshman Wayne Montgomery hit the ground running on arrival from South Africa and he hasn’t slowed down yet.
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After a stellar first season in Athens, the SEC’s head coaches voted Wayne Montgomery SEC Men’s Tennis Freshman of the Year.
“I’m extremely proud of Wayne,” head coach Manuel Diaz told georgiadogs.com. “He certainly had a phenomenal year for us. He has played at the top of the lineup as a freshman, and that isn’t easy to do. I think this will give him motivation to continue to work hard and improve as a player, and also to become a leader in the years to come.”
Montgomery also earned first team All-SEC honors, as did Nathan Pasha, Austin Smith and Ben Wagland. Georgia led the league with four first team All-SEC selections, and Montgomery was also named to the All-Freshman Team. He is the first Georgia player to earn SEC Freshman of the Year honors since John Isner in 2004.
Montgomery leads the team with 31 singles wins and is second with a combined 48 singles and doubles victories. The South Africa native has a 31-6 singles record and is 13-3 in dual matches, including 11 wins against ranked opponents. He owns a 48-18 combined singles and doubles record. Montgomery led the team with an 18-3 singles record in the fall and won singles titles at the Southern Intercollegiate Championships and the Cajun Classic.
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Pasha’s 24-11 singles record also has him tied for the team lead with 12 wins against ranked opponents. Pasha has 15 singles and doubles wins against ranked opponents, third most on the team. He has 217 combined singles and doubles wins, which is 11th most in UGA history since 1986, and he stands 10th on the all-time career doubles wins list at UGA.
Smith, a member of the SEC All-Tournament Team, has a 24-10 singles record and is 14-6 in dual matches, which is tied for the most wins on the team. He is 8-1 in the SEC, which is tied for team lead in SEC wins, and the Bulldogs are 8-1 when Smith plays No. 1 singles. The junior from Cumming, Ga., is tied for the team lead with 12 wins against ranked opponents and is second on the team with five match clinchers. He clinched the SEC championship with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Ole Miss’ No. 16 Nik Smith has been ranked No. 1 doubles in the country with Ben Wagland for the last four weeks. He is 15-2 in doubles with Smith, including a 12-1 mark against ranked opponents.
Wagland, also a member of the SEC All-Tournament Team has a 20-13 singles record, is 10-5 in dual matches and is currently on a seven-match winning streak. The junior from Sydney, Australia is 26-12 in doubles and is currently ranked No. 1 in the country with Smith. The tandem is first Bulldogs to be ranked No. 1 in doubles since John Isner and Luis Flores in 2007, and they have wins against doubles teams ranked Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6, 11 (twice) and 12.