Florida Gators
NCAA Championships - Individ.
Ouellette Makes Way Into NCAA Men's Tennis Singles Quarterfinals
Friday, May 27, 2005 | Men's Tennis
For the third time in as many days, University of Florida men's tennis freshman Greg Ouellette (Ormond Beach, Fla.) scored a victory to move on to the quarterfinal round of the NCAA Singles draw in College Station, Texas. On Friday, Ouellette slipped by South Alabama's 16th-ranked Fraticek Babej (6-4, 2-6, 7-5) to set up a meeting in the quarterfinals with Baylor's second-ranked Benedikt Dorsch.
Babej was the third ranked opponent Ouellette has taken out in the draw and the second that was higher ranked than he was. On Wednesday, he made his way into the round of 32 by upsetting Washington's eighth-seeded and sixth-ranked Alex Vlaski (7-5, 0-6, 6-2). Yesterday, he posted a 7-6 (4), 7-5 win over Virginia Tech's 72nd-ranked Stephane Rod to move on to the round of 16.
Ouellette's win on Friday improved his overall record to 39-9 on the season, which stands alone in third on UF's all-time single season win chart.
On Saturday, he will face Dorsch who is the top seed in the draw. Dorsch has won ten straight and owns a 32-2 record. He was recently named the ITA Senior Player of the Year.
Ouellette, who is in his first season in Gainesville, is ranked 49th nationally. He spent most of the year on the No. 2 and No. 3 court in the singles lineup. He completed the SEC portion of the dual match season with an 11-0 record becoming the first Gator under fourth-year head coach Andy Jackson to do so. Ouellette was selected as a first-team All-SEC representative and was named the SEC Freshman of the Year.
Florida boasts a pair of NCAA singles champions and one NCAA doubles championship team in its history. Mark Merklein won the 1994 singles championship, while Jeff Morrison did so in 1999. The duo of Merklein and David Blair won the doubles title in 1993.
NCAA Singles Draw
Round of 16
College Station, Texas
Friday, May 27, 2005
#49 Greg Ouellette (UF) def. #16 Franticek Babej (South Alabama), 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
