Florida Gators
NCAA Semifinal - Baylor
Men?s Tennis Ends Run At NCAA Tournament With 4-1 Loss To Top-Ranked Baylor
Tuesday, May 24, 2005 | Men's Tennis
The run in the NCAA Championship draw came to a close for the third-ranked Florida men's tennis team Monday evening in College Station, Texas, where the Gators fell short to No. 1 Baylor, 4-1, in the semifinals of the event. Florida finished its season with a 24-6 record after reaching the semifinal round of the event for only the second time in school history. Baylor improved its record to 33-0 on the season as the Bears won their 57th-straight match to set up a meeting with UCLA in the national title match for the second straight season.
"Baylor was too good for us," said UF head coach Andy Jackson. "I thought we played very hard especially in the singles. We were pushing as hard as we could, but couldn't push them over. We couldn't extend it to get into them enough, and I think that is because of their toughness, skill and experience. We're pleased with our effort and with our team and we are excited for the future."
Florida's 2005 campaign was one of the most successful in school history. For the ninth time overall and second time in the past three seasons, UF won the Southeastern Conference crown before going on to take the SEC tournament title for the third time ever. The Gators also won the SEC Eastern Division for the third straight year. In addition, UF's 24 victories this season ranked as the fourth best total a UF squad has posted.
Florida's first trip to the semifinals came in 2000 where the Gators dropped a 4-0 decision to Stanford in Athens, Ga. The trip to the semifinals this year also matched the farthest run for UF head coach Andy Jackson during his 22-year career. Prior to coming to Gainesville, Jackson took Mississippi State to the round on two occasions (1994 and 1998).
Florida dropped the doubles point for the 14th time this season, however, unlike nine prior times the Gators were not able to recover in singles. UF's Stefan Tell and Nestor Briceno were defeated by an 8-6 decision on court three in 39 minutes by Benjamin Becker and Jon Reckeway. Moments later, second-ranked Benedikt Dorsch and Matija Zgaga clinched it for the Bears with an 8-6 win at the top of the order over UF's eighth-ranked Hamid Mirzadeh and Greg Ouellette.
In singles play, Ouellette (No. 49) dropped a 6-4, 6-3 decision to Becker (No. 18), who is the defending NCAA singles champion, on court two. Following that, Baylor got within one of clinching the match when second-ranked Dorsch defeated Mirzadeh on the top court, 6-2, 6-4.
Junior Ryan Sherry got the Gators on the board with a straight set win of his own against Greg Shearer at the bottom of the order (6-4, 7-5). Sherry led the team this year with a 23-3 dual match record finishing the year with wins in 19 of his final 20 dual matches.
Baylor got the win it was looking for on court four where Briceno fell to 106th-ranked Michal Kokta, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
"Obviously, the biggest thing in the match was not being able to get into the third set on four," said Jackson. "Baylor has won so much that if you get them in the third set and get it tight then maybe they'll get a little tired. They were too good at four to let us do that."
The Gators do have a pair of players with at least one more match left to play. Mirzadeh and Ouellette will take part in the NCAA singles and doubles draw, which starts on Wednesday. The draws will be announced on Tuesday. Florida has had two NCAA singles champions (Mark Merklein in 1994 and Jeff Morrison in 1999) and one doubles champion (Merklein and David Blair in 1993).
Florida should return every player except Mirzadeh for the 2006 season. Mirzadeh was the only senior on the roster for the Gators this year.
Florida vs. Baylor
NCAA Semifinals
Sunday, May 22, 2005
College Station, Texas
Doubles
3. Benjamin Becker/Jon Reckeway (BU) def. Nestor Briceno/Stefan Tell (UF), 8-6
Order of Finish: 3, 1
Singles:
Order of Finish: 2, 1, 6, 4
