Florida Gators
Oklahoma State (NCAA 1st Rnd)
Men's Tennis Falls to Oklahoma State in NCAAs
Saturday, May 12, 2001 | Men's Tennis
“This is disappointing end to a difficult and disappointing season,” said UF head coach Ian Duvenhage, who concludes his 13-year UF coaching career with a 221-126 record and a 17-11 mark in 11 NCAA appearances. “We had our chances. Unfortunately, I think it’s been such a long time since we experienced success that when we had those chances we didn’t expect good things to happen.”
The match opened with thrilling doubles action. OSU took the lone lopsided match 8-3 at No. 2. The Cowboys took the first three games, but Greenstein and Matt Behrmann held their next three service games to cut the gap to 5-3. The Cowboys won the final three games for the 8-3 final. At No. 3 doubles, the teams alternated taking one game leads until the final game. With the teams tied at 6-6, OSU could not hold its serve as Troy Hahn capped UF’s third service break with an emphatic shot from the net that bounded into the seats. Trey Johnson held serve for UF’s 8-6 win, when the Cowboys put the Gators’ second match point into the net.
The No. 1 doubles match did not see a single break of serve until OSU, already up 5-4, got to Nathan Overholser with a deft return by Frantisek Krepelka. Florida eventually fell behind 7-4, but Jeremy Wurtzman held serve on four straight points. UF broke back to cut the gap to 7-6 and then Overholser crushed four straight service winners to tie the match at 7-7. OSU held to go up 8-7 and took the first advantage point in UF’s service, but the Gators saved the match point and would force a tiebreaker when Overholser secured the game with a rocketed cross-court winner. The tense breaker’s momentum ebbed and flowed. UF took a 3-1 lead, but OSU tied it at 3-3. UF went up 5-3 when Wurtzman delivered an unreturnable topspin lob, but the Cowboys won the next four point securing the doubles point with a Crhis Bates return down the middle of the court.
Florida evened the score at 1-1 as the singles competition began. Greenstein posted his first singles win since March 25, by taking down Anthony Zafiris, 6-4, 6-2, at number 6, winning match point at the net after a serve and volley. OSU went up 2-1 minutes later when Jiri Jezek posted a 6-2, 6-4, win at No. 5 over Behrmann. OSU took a 3-1 edge with a win at No. 2. Wurtzman dominated early as the match stood 6-2, 3-3, but Bates wrestled command and posted A 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win for the Cowboys.
Oklahoma State clinched victory at No. 4 where Krepelka beat Hahn in a match that saw a pair of tiebreakers. In the first set, Hahn had his service broken up 6-5 to force the tiebreaker. All even at 7-7 in the breaker, Krepelka won a pair of points for the 9-7 win. Hahn was the one who forced the second set tiebreaker but tied 5-5, Krepelka would win a pair of points for a 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5) match-clinching win.
Florida led in the third set of both suspended matches, including No. 1 where Overholser was just three points away from a three-set win at 6-3, 6- 7 (3), 5-0. Olivier Levant won 7-6 (4), 4-6, 1-0 for Florida at No. 3 when OSU clinched the team victory.
“Obviously I’m very disappointed, especially being my senior year,” Overholser said. “After all we’ve been through this season and this week in particular with Ian, I felt like we would come together and do something special. We played a tough team today but I do think that we are the better team; however, that’s the way it goes sometimes. They played better than we did and I give all the credit to them. They closed the door when they needed to because I felt we were going to win those last two matches.”
Overholser and Levant will continue play at the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships, starting on May 23 in Athens, Ga. Overholser will participate in singles and play doubles with Levant. It is his fourth career NCAA doubles selection and his second singles field. Wurtzman is the 7th alternate for singles.
Doubles
No. 1 Chris Bates/Frantisek Krepelka (OSU) d. #23 Nathan Overholser/Jeremy Wurtzman (UF), 9-8 (5)
No. 2 Matt Prentice/Eru Lyndon (OSU) d. Matt Behrmann/Ross Greenstein (UF), 8-3
No. 3 Troy Hahn/Trey Johnson (UF) d. Jiri Jezek/Anthony Zafiris (OSU), 8-6
Singles
No. 1 #38 Nathan Overholser (UF) v. #84 Matt Prentice, 6-3, 6-7 (3), 5-0 Susp.
No. 2 Chris Bates (OSU) d. #62 Jeremy Wurtzman (UF), 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 #90 Olivier Levant v. Eru Lyndon (OSU), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 1-0 Susp.
No. 4 Frantisek Krepelka (OSU) d. Troy Hahn (UF), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5)
No. 5 Jiri Jezek (OSU) d. Matt Behrmann (UF), 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 Ross Greenstein (UF) d. Anthony Zafiris (OSU), 6-4, 6-2
