Men's Tennis Ends Regular Season Home Slate With 6-1 Win Over No. 17 Tennessee
Sunday, April 3, 2005 | Men's Tennis
The ninth-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team closed out the regular season home portion of its schedule with a 6-1 victory over No. 17 Tennessee on Sunday afternoon. The win was the tenth straight for the Gators as their record improved to 15-4 overall and 8-0 in conference play. Tennessee's loss was its second straight as the Volunteers record dropped to 10-5 overall and 5-3 in the league.
"Today was one of my favorite days since I've been at Florida," said UF head coach Andy Jackson. "Most of the time when you go out and beat a premier team like we did against Georgia on Saturday (UF won 4-3 vs. No. 8 UGA), you lose the next time you play. It was a trap today and we responded, which shows development."
UF finished with an 11-1 home record marking the fourth straight year the Gators had no more than one loss on its home court during the regular season.
In doubles play, Florida's 12th-ranked Hamid Mirzadeh and Greg Ouellette fell to seventh-ranked Ockie Oosthuizen, 8-4, at the top of the order leaving the Gators needing wins on each of the remaining courts. UF got one of the wins it was looking for when Chris Brandi and Vladimir Obradovic defeated Bobby Cameron and Kaden Hensel on court two, 8-6. The win improved the pair to 6-6 on the season.
The point came down to the outcome on court three where UF's Nestor Briceno and Stefan Tell were paired on court three for the first time since March 15 against South Florida. The UF duo fell behind 7-4 before coming back to force a tiebreaker. However, the Gators fell short to the Tennessee tandem, 9-8 (7).
In singles play, Florida came back from dropping the doubles point for the second straight match and sixth time this season.
Ouellette (No. 32) quickly made it a 1-1 match with his tenth win of the season coming over Cameron on court two, 6-1, 6-2, in 1:03 minutes. The victory moved his dual record to 13-3 overall and 8-0 against SEC opponents.
UF got on top for the first time on the day when Obradovic (T89) defeated Oosthuizen on court three, 6-3, 6-3. The win was Obradovic's sixth in his last eight outings.
Mirzadeh (No. 58) got UF to within one of the victory with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Dietrich (No. 53) at the top of the order. The win was the second straight and the fifth of the year over a ranked opponent for the UF senior who was appearing the final regular season home match of his career.
Ryan Sherry came up with the clincher for the Gators as he took Tennessee's Matt Berry in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2. The win was his tenth consecutive and improved his record to 14-2 on the season, which leads all Gators.
Brandi (No. 71) increased the lead to 5-1 with a 6-4, 6-3 win on court five over Hensel. Brandi improved his record to 13-3 overall and 7-1 against SEC foes in dual matches.
After falling behind 5-1 in his first set Briceno completed the sweep of the singles courts for the Gators as he battled back to take a 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory over Kiril Tcherveniachki on court four.
Florida returns to the courts on Friday, April 8, with the beginning of a three-match road swing at Mississippi State. The match begins at 2 p.m.
Florida vs. Tennessee
Singles
1 #58 Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) def. #53 Mark Dietrich (UT), 6-3, 7-5
2 #32 Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Bobby Cameron (UT), 6-1, 6-2
3 # 89T Vladimir Obradovic (UF) def. Ockie Oosthuizen (UT), 6-3, 6-2
4 Nestor Briceno (UF) def. Kiril Tcherveniachki (UT), 7-6 (2), 6-3
5 #71 Chris Brandi (UF) def. Kaden Hensel (UT), 6-4, 6-3
6 Ryan Sherry (UF) def. Matt Berry (UT), 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish – 2, 3, 1, 6, 5, 4
Doubles
3. Matt Berry/Mark Dietrich (UT) def. Nestor Briceno/Stefan Tell (UF), 9-8 (3)
Order of finish: 1, 2, 3,