Florida Gators
Vanderbilt
Men's Tennis Falls In SEC Tournament Title Bid
Monday, April 21, 2003 | Men's Tennis
The top-seeded University of Florida men's tennis team fell short in its bid for a third SEC Tournament title as the Gators were upset by second-seeded Vanderbilt, 4-0, on the campus of Ole Miss University Sunday afternoon. Florida entered the event as the top seed after having won the program's eighth SEC title for its efforts during the regular season.
The loss marked the first for the Gators in three trips to the championship as Florida fell to 22-4 on the season, while Vanderbilt won its first SEC title in its first appearance in the final match as the Commodores improved to 22-3 on the year.
The match began at the Palmer/Salloum courts, however, it was delayed twice and eventually switched locations due to pockets of showers in the Oxford, MS area. The first match was delayed one hour and ten minutes before courts could be dried to allow the doubles to begin. Both Florida and Vanderbilt entered the match having lost only three doubles points each to this point in the season.
The Gators found themselves in a battle for the doubles point after Hamid Mirzadeh and Chris McDonald were defeated at the top of the lineup, 8-6, by Vanderbilt's Bobby Reynolds and Lewis Smith. UF's 39th-ranked Olivier Levant and Eleazar Magallan used the same score to down Vandy's Chad Harris and Matt Lockin to force the issue to court three. Florida's Matt Behrmann and Troy Hahn led 7-6, but allowed Scott Brown and Zach Dailey to battle back for a 9-7 Commodore win. The loss in the doubles marked the first time this season that the Gators have allowed a SEC team come away with the point.
The match saw its second delay slightly in to the first sets of the singles matches with the Gators holding slim leads on four of six courts. This time the delay lasted one hour and thirty-one minutes before officials determined to move the match inside to the Gillom Tennis Courts.
Once indoors, 55th-ranked Matt Lockin defeated Florida's Troy Hahn (6-3, 6-4) on court two to make it a 2-0 Commodore lead. Chad Harris (No. 15) brought Vandy within one of the win with his victory on court two (6-3, 6-3) over Florida's Janne Holmia. At the top of the lineup, second-ranked Bobby Reynolds clinched it with a 7-6 (2), 6-3 win over Mirzadeh.
Florida made it into the finals giving up only one point in their first two matches. On Friday, Florida shutout Alabama, 4-0, marking the Gators third shutout in SEC tournament history before going on to hand Kentucky a 4-1 loss in Saturday's semifinals. Vanderbilt made it in after dismissing Georgia, 4-0, and knocking out host Ole Miss 4-1 in the semifinal round.
The meeting with the Commodores was the second on the season with the Gators winning the first time as well with a 4-3 decision in Gainesville on Friday, March 16.
The Gators now await the NCAA announcement of first and second round sites and dates on Wednesday, April 30. A season ago, the Gators were eliminated in the round of 16 by UCLA, 4-0, in College Station, Texas.
Doubles
Singles
