Florida Gators
Vanderbilt
Florida Men's Tennis Blanks Vanderbilt, 7-0
Saturday, March 12, 2005 | Men's Tennis
For the fourth time under head coach Andy Jackson, the seventh-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team shutout an SEC opponent in regular season play as the Gators defeated 40th-ranked Vanderbilt on Friday afternoon in Gainesville, 7-0. Both teams now own an 8-4 record, while the Gators improved to 3-0 in SEC play. The Commodores are still in search of their first conference win with a 0-3 league mark.
The shutout was the first since UF blanked three straight SEC foes on its way to the 2003 conference championship. That year, UF picked up a 7-0 win at Mississippi State before returning home to do the same against Arkansas and LSU.
Florida got the doubles point with wins on all three courts. UF's Hamid Mirzadeh and Greg Ouellette halted 27th-ranked Scott Brown and Jason Pinsky who entered the match with a spotless spring record of 10-0 by coming away with an 8-4 win in 37 minutes. The victory was the second straight for the Gator pair and marked their first win over a ranked opponent this season.
Florida had the point just over 10 minutes later when Chris Brandi and Vladimir Obradovic recorded an 8-5 win against Matthew Lockin and Nathan Sachs on court two. The win evened their dual match record to 3-3 on the season. Ryan Sherry and Jordan Dolberg picked up their third straight win to improve their dual record to 9-3 on court three as they outlasted Vanderbilt's Andy Mack and Ryan Preston, 9-8 (4).
Singles was more of the same with every win coming in straight sets. Mirzadeh, who entered the ITA singles poll at No. 41 this week, made quick work of Brown (No. 27) in a 6-3, 6-2 match that took slight over one hour. The three time All-American improved to 3-0 on the top court in conference dual match. Within seconds, Ryan Sherry also won his third straight SEC match with a 6-1, 6-4 victory on court six over Evan Defaux.
Ouellette (No. 29) provided the clincher on court three with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Pinsky. Ouellette is also perfect in league play (3-0) and owns a 5-2 record at the third spot in the order.
Newcomer Nestor Briceno stretched the lead to 5-0 when he posted a 6-2, 6-4 win over Sachs on the next court down. Briceno earned his eighth dual match win of the year and is tied with Brandi for the team lead as the UF junior who moved up to No. 51 in the polls this week won a 7-5, 6-1 match against Preston on court five.
After trailing 5-2 in the first set, Obradovic came back to get the Gators the shutout with a 7-5, 7-5 win over Lockin on court two that stopped a skid that had seen the senior win just once in his last four outings.
Florida closes out its second weekend of SEC action on Sunday, March 13, as the Gators host No. 28 Kentucky at 1 p.m.
Florida vs. Vanderbilt
Singles
Order of Finish – 1, 6, 3, 5, 4, 2
Doubles
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3
