Georgia tops Ole Miss for spot in semifinals

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A rain-soaked day in Columbia forced the sixth-ranked Georgia men's tennis team indoors as the Bulldogs took down No. 29 Ole Miss 4-0 Friday in the quarterfinals of the 2016 SEC Tournament.

The match was originally scheduled to start at 1 p.m., but rain forced a near four-hour delay to the start of the contest between the ninth-seeded Rebels and No. 1 overall seed Georgia. The two teams played singles first and Georgia quickly took advantage with wins at the top four courts.

The Bulldogs, who improve to 19-3 overall and a perfect 13-0 against SEC opponents this season will play the winner of the contest between fourth-seeded Mississippi State and No. 5 seed Kentucky on Saturday. Match time for the semifinal matchup is currently scheduled for Noon ET, but will most likely change due to Friday's delays.

"It was quite a long day, but I think our guys handled it well," head coach Manuel Diaz said. "I'm really proud of our team and how they fought through all the delays. They just did a tremendous job staying focused. We came out very strong in most of our matches, and I can't say enough about the way we played today."

Georgia redshirt sophomore Paul Oosterbaan gave his team the early momentum and picked up his fifth-straight victory of the season with a dominating, 6-2, 6-1 win over Ole Miss' Grey Hamilton at the No. 3 position.

Up 1-0, the Bulldogs quickly took wins at the top two courts with Wayne Montgomery's 6-4, 6-3 triumph and Austin Smith's 6-2, 7-5 victory over 47th-ranked Gustav Hansson. The win for Smith marked his 16th over a ranked opponent during the 2015-16 campaign.

With the 3-0 lead in hand, all eyes turned to the No. 4 court, where freshman Walker Duncan delivered a match-clinching 7-6 (1), 6-4 win.