TWO GATORS REACH THIRD ROUND AT REGION III CHAMPIONSHIPS

Thursday, November 4

Athens, GA

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

ITA Region III Qualifier-Day 1

TWO GATORS REACH THIRD ROUND AT REGION III CHAMPIONSHIPS

Thursday, November 4, 1999 | Men's Tennis

By: Jeff Kamis

ATHENS, Ga. -- University of Florida seniors Dylan Mann and Justin O'Neal advanced to the third round of singles Thursday at the ITA Region III Indoor Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the campus of the University of Georgia.

Mann downed Georgia State's Pablo Perez Graz 6-3, 6-0 Thursday morning and then eliminated LSU's Daniel Kiernan 6-4, 6-4 to advance. O'Neal, the second seed who is rated 10^th in the ITA preseason rankings, received a first round bye before knocking off Stetson's Piero Demichelli 6-4, 6-0. Both Gators will face Kentucky players Friday morning at 9:30 a.m., with Mann meeting 54^th-ranked Johan Hesoun and O'Neal facing 82^nd-ranked Edo Bowano.

In doubles, junior Marcos Asse and Mann won a first round match, downing Ryan O'Keefe and Kendall Swartz from Georgia Southern, 8-6. Freshman Matt Behrmann and O'Neal, who are ranked 38^th in doubles, are seeded fourth and join their teammates Friday in the second round.

Four Gators were eliminated Thursday from the singles draw. Asse and senior Trey Adcock both won opening-round matches before falling in the second round. Asse beat Centenary's Eden Kleinman, but lost to South Florida's 45^th-ranked Fabio Tintori in three sets. Adcock defeated Alabama's Mason Snider in round one before losing to Georgia's Travis Parrott. Behrmann and junior Will Brown both lost in the first round, with Behrmann falling to LSU's Anthony Mateljan and Brown dropping a match to Mississippi State's Jerome Lebelicard.

The singles winner, singles finalist and winning doubles team from this regional event receives an automatic berth to the 2000 Rolex National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships, which will be hosted by Southern Methodist University and Brookhaven Country Club in Dallas, Texas from Feb. 3-6. The tournament runs through Sunday, November 7.

ITA Region III Indoor Championships - Thursday, November 4, 1999
UF Results Only
SINGLES
First Round
Marcos Asse (UF) d. Eden Kleinman (Centenary) 7-5, 6-1
Trey Adcock (UF) d. Mason Snider (Alabama) 7-5, 6-2
Dylan Mann (UF) d. Pablo Perez Graz (Georgia State) 6-3, 6-0
Anthony Mateljan (LSU) d. Matt Behrmann (UF) 6-3, 6-4
Jerome Lebelicard (Miss. St.) d. Will Brown (UF) 6-3, 7-5

Second Round
Dylan Mann (UF) d. Daniel Kiernan (LSU) 6-4, 6-4
Justin O'Neal (UF) d. Piero Demichelli (Stetson) 6-4, 6-0
Fabio Tintori (USF) d. Marcos Asse (UF) 3-6, 6-0, 6-2
Travis Parrott (Georgia) d. Trey Adcock (UF) 6-2, 6-2

DOUBLES
First Round
Asse-Mann (UF) d. O'Keefe-Swartz (Ga. Southern) 8-6