GATOR MEN’S TENNIS TEAM ROLLS TO 7-1 WIN OVER SMU AT USTA/ITA NATIONAL TEAM INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Thursday, February 24

Louisville, KY

7:30 PM

Florida Gators

SMU at National Team Indoors

GATOR MEN’S TENNIS TEAM ROLLS TO 7-1 WIN OVER SMU AT USTA/ITA NATIONAL TEAM INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Thursday, February 24, 2000 | Men's Tennis

By: Jeff Kamis

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fourth-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team (5-0) rolled to a 7-1 victory over 11^th-ranked SMU (7-2) Thursday night in the first round of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships at the Louisville Tennis Club. The win was UF's first victory in the main draw in this, its seventh appearance at the tournament. Florida will now face seventh-ranked UCLA, an 8-0 winner over 23^rd-ranked Harvard, in Friday's quarterfinals at 4:00 p.m. ET. The Gators and UCLA last met in the NCAA quarterfinals a year ago with the Bruins posting a 4-1 victory.

"I like the way our team played today," said head coach Ian Duvenhage. "The doubles was the best that we have ever played. The guys did a great job all around."

The Gators grabbed an early 2-0 lead by sweeping all three doubles matches. Juniors Jeff Morrison and Nathan Overholser upset SMU's 11^th-ranked duo of Toby Hansson and Jon Wallmark 8-4 at number one to remain unbeaten on the year, while senior Justin O'Neal and junior Marcos Asse posted an 8-6 victory at number two over SMU's 52^nd-ranked team of Dustin Mauck and Vinay Venkataragaavan for their third win in dual play. UF's freshmen duo of Matt Behrmann and Troy Hahn improved to 4-0 with an 8-5 win at number three.

Florida continued the momentum in singles as Morrison and O'Neal quickly extended the lead to 4-0. Morrison, who is ranked fifth in the latest WingspanBank.com collegiate rankings, downed 20^th-ranked Toby Hansson 6-2, 6-1 at number one for his 147^th career victory overall, moving him into fifth-place on UF's all-time list. O'Neal, who is rated 12^th, knocked off Dustin Mauck 6-0, 6-1 at number two singles for his 95^th career singles win. Overholser then sealed the win with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Gerardo Mulas for his first clinching victory of the season. Other singles winners for UF included sophomore Olivier Levant at number four singles in his collegiate debut and Hahn at number six for his fifth win without a loss.

The tournament, the nation's premier indoor tournament, includes seven of the top 10 teams in the latest WingspanBank.com collegiate rankings and runs through Sunday, Feb. 27. The tournament is using an experimental dual match format intended to shorten matches to less than three hours. Among the major differences in this format are: match tie-breakers (first to 10, win by two) being played in place of a third set in singles, teams being awarded two points (instead of one) for sweeping doubles, no warm-up with opponents, and the possibility of overtime existing if a match is tied 4-4 after singles.

2000 USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships - First Round
No. 4 FLORIDA (5-0) 7
No. 11 SMU (7-2) 1
Thursday, February 24, 2000
Louisville Tennis Club, Louisville, Ky.

DOUBLES
No. 1 – Jeff Morrison-Nathan Overholser (UF) d. Toby Hansson-Jon Wallmark (SMU) 8-4
No. 2 – Marcos Asse-Justin O'Neal (UF) d. Dustin Mauck-Vinay Venkataragaavan (SMU) 8-6
No. 3 – Matt Behrmann-Troy Hahn (UF) d. Genius Chidzikwe-Gerardo Mulas (SMU) 8-5

SINGLES
No. 1 – Jeff Morrison (UF) d. Toby Hansson (SMU) 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 – Justin O'Neal (UF) d. Dustin Mauck (SMU) 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 – Nathan Overholser (UF) d. Gerardo Mulas (SMU) 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 – Olivier Levant (UF) d. Jon Wallmark (SMU) 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-5)
No. 5 – Genius Chidzikwe (SMU) d. Dylan Mann (UF) 7-5, 6-1
No. 6 – Troy Hahn (UF) d. Alexis Rudzinski (SMU) 6-0, 6-4