Florida Gators
OLE MISS
Men's Tennis Upsets No. 6 Ole Miss
Saturday, March 2, 2002 | Men's Tennis
"This was clearly a big win for us," UF head coach Andy Jackson said. "We were fortunate because Ole Miss is a NCAA Championship contender. We need confidence so this will help, but we have a long way to go still."
The Gators got a strong push towards an upset by taking the doubles point to open play. The nation's 18th ranked doubles team of Olivier Levant and Eleazar Magallan needed just 31 minutes to cruise to their 8-2 win for Florida at No. 2. Ole Miss evened things with an 8-5 win at No. 3 on its fifth match point but a victory at the top would pull the Gators through. Chris McDonald and Hamid Mirzadeh defeated the Rebels' No. 1 pairing, 8-5, to seal UF's doubles point win.
Gainesville's Trey Johnson gave UF a 2-0 lead in singles play when the Eastside High grad posted a 6-1, 6-3 win over #83 Martin Selin. Johnson capped his 1:02 win with a rousing comeback in the final game. Trailing love-40, Johnson won five straight points to capture his 18th win of the year against five losses after going 7-15 overall last year as a freshman. It is also the highest ranked win of his career, topping a win over #85 Bryan Fisher of LSU on Jan. 17 during the SEC Indoor Championships.
The score closed to 2-1 Florida when Levant was forced to retire due to injury at No. 3 singles. Levant won the opening set over Catalin Gard 6-2 but after battling his injury for a set and a half would fall by a 2-6, 6- 1, 3-0 score. The loss is Levant's first in dual match play this year.
Troy Hahn gave UF a 3-1 cushion with his upset win over #97 Paul Ciorascu at No. 4 singles for his first ranked win of the year. Down 5-6 in the opening set, Hahn saved a triple set point and eventually won the set in a tiebreaker. Hahn would convert on the first of a double match point in the second set for a 7-6 (3), 6-3 win. Ole Miss cut its deficit to 3-2 when Claes Lindholm finished off his 6-4, 6-4 win at No. 6 over Ross Greenstein.
Mirzadeh sealed the win with a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 1 over Hartman. It is not only the best win of his career but Mirzadeh's victory is the second highest ranked win for UF this season, trailing only Levant's victory over then-No. 17 Romain Ambert of Mississippi State on Nov. 2. Play concluded with Ole Miss' Kristofer Stahlberg rallying from a 5-2 third set deficit to beat #47 Eleazar Magallan, 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (5), handing the Gator junior his first dual match loss of the season.
UF played the match without usual #5 singles and #3 doubles player Matt Behrmann due to illness.
Florida returns to action on Sunday when the Gators host No. 13 Mississippi State, Jackson and McDonald's former team, at 1:00 pm.
Doubles
1) #26 Chris McDonald/Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) d. Martin Selin/Kristofer Stahlberg (UM), 8-5
2) #18 Olivier Levant/Eleazar Magallan (UF), 8-5 d. Partick Crucri/Alex Hartman (UM), 8-2
3) Catalin Gard/Claes Lindholm (UM) d. Troy Hahn/Ryan Sherry (UF), 8-5
Singles
1) #102 Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) d. #22 Alex Hartman (UM), 6-4, 6-2
2) Kristofer Stahlberg (UM) d. #47 Eleazar Magallan (UF), 6-4, 0-6, 7-6 (5)
3) Catalin Gard (UM) d. Olivier Levant (UF), 2-6, 6-1, 3-0 ret. inj.
4) Troy Hahn (UF) d. #97 Paul Ciorascu (UM), 7-6 (3), 6-3
5) Trey Johnson (UF) d. #83 Martin Selin (UM), 6-1, 6-3
6) #120 Claes Lindholm (UM) d. Ross Greenstein (UF), 6-4, 6-4
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