Florida Gators

BATON ROUGE, La. - The seventh-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team (10-2, 2-0 SEC) snapped several streaks as it downed sixth-ranked LSU, 4-2, Tuesday at the Dub Robinson Tennis Stadium. The win for the Gators halted LSU's nine-match SEC win streak, as well as the Tigers' 10-match home winning streak and LSU's three-match winning streak over the Gators in the series.
 
"It was an impressive win because this is a very tough place to play," said head coach Ian Duvenhage. "This is really going to help our confidence and I am proud of the way the team competed today. I am excited about the fact that we can still get much better. Doubles was a great deal better, especially at number one and number two, where we were tremendous. We also just did a great job in singles at one through three."
 
Florida opened the match by claiming the doubles point with victories at number one and number two after LSU (8-2, 1-1) had won the doubles point in a school-record 21 consecutive matches. Senior Justin O'Neal and sophomore Olivier Levant posted an 8-2 victory over Tom Hand and Ed Rubin at number two before juniors Jeff Morrison and Nathan Overholser clinched the point with an 8-4 win at number one over Michal Chmela and Dan Kiernan.
 
In singles Overholser rolled to a 6-2, 6-0 win at number three over Rubin to extend the Gator lead to 2-0. Morrison, who is ranked seventh in the latest WingspanBank.com Collegiate Rankings, knocked off 27^th-ranked Chmela, 6-3, 6-4 at number one for his 95^th career singles victory. O'Neal, who is ranked 16^th, followed with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Hand, who is rated tied for 21^st, to seal the Florida win. O'Neal has now won six consecutive singles matches and a team-best 23 on the year. LSU scored both of its points after Florida had clinched the match.
 
Florida will next be in action this Friday, March 17 when it opens a season-long seven-match homestand against eighth-ranked Mississippi at 1:00 p.m. at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
 
No. 7 FLORIDA (10-2, 2-0)            4
No. 6 LSU (8-2, 1-1)                        2
Tuesday, March 14, 2000
Dub Robinson Stadium, Baton Rouge, La.
 
DOUBLES
No. 1 – Jeff Morrison-Nathan Overholser (UF) d. Michal Chmela-Dan Kiernan (LSU) 8-4
No. 2 – Olivier Levant-Justin O'Neal (UF) d. Tom Hand-Ed Rubin (LSU) 8-2
No. 3 – Ajay Ramaswami-Jesse Smatt (LSU) d. Matt Behrmann-Troy Hahn (UF) 6-3, retired
 
SINGLES
No. 1 – Jeff Morrison (UF) d. Michal Chmela (LSU) 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 – Justin O'Neal (UF) d. Tom Hand (LSU) 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 – Nathan Overholser (UF) d. Ed Rubin (LSU) 6-2, 6-0
No. 4 – Dan Kiernan (LSU) d. Olivier Levant (UF) 5-7, 7-5, retired
No. 5 – Ajay Ramaswami (LSU) d. Troy Hahn (UF) 7-5, 6-3
No. 6 – Matt Behrmann (UF) vs. Jesse Smatt (LSU), not completed