Florida Gators
Penn - ITA National Team Indoor
Florida Men's Tennis Advances At USTA/ITA National Team Indoors
Friday, February 17, 2006 | Men's Tennis
For the fourth straight season and the sixth time in school history, the top-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team advanced to the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoors as the Gators defeated No. 63 Pennsylvania, 4-1, Friday at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.
Florida improved to 6-0 on the season and will meet Duke (No. 9) in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET. Audio of the match will be broadcast live at RadioTennis.com. The Blue Devils knocked out defending indoor national champion Baylor, 4-3, Friday afternoon to become the first lower ranked team to get a win in this year's event.
Florida, which is making its 11th appearance in the national championship event, is off to its best start under fifth-year head coach Andy Jackson and has matched four other squads for the tenth best start in school history at 6-0 (1954, 1955, 1989, 1990).
The Gators opened by dropping the doubles point for the second time on the season. UF's Ryan Sweeting and Vladimir Obradovic picked up the lone victory on the top doubles court with a 9-7 showing against Jason Pinsky and Joseph Lok. The win was their team-leading third in a dual match this season.
In singles, the bottom of the order came up big where wins on each of the lower three courts and a victory on two allowed the Gators to advance. Each of UF's four singles victories came in straight sets.
Redshirt senior Ryan Sherry evened the match with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Jimmy Fairbanks on court six. Sherry, who has won each of his four dual matches this season, has taken 12 straight dating back to last year and 23 of his last 24 outings.
Sophomore Greg Ouellette put the Gators on top for the first time on the day. He defeated Penn's Mikhail Bekker on court two, 6-3, 6-1. Ouellette owns a 4-0 record at the spot in the order this season. Classmate Nestor Briceno moved to 4-0 in duals as he got UF to within one of the win when he outlasted Lok on court four, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Redshirt senior Chris Brandi clinched the match by posting a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Justin Fox on court five. Brandi, who also clinched UF's opening match in the same event last year in Chicago, leads all Gators with a 6-0 dual match record this season.
The USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Tournament began in 1973 and is the ITA's longest-running event. On nine occasions, the team that won the USTA/ITA title went on to win the NCAA title in May. There have been four times the USTA/ITA runner-up went on to win the NCAAs.
Florida vs. Penn
Singles
1 Ryan Sweeting (UF) vs. No. 52 Jason Pinsky (Penn), DNF
2 Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Mikhail Bekker (Penn), 6-3, 6-1
3 Janne Holmia (UF) vs. Jonathan Boym (Penn), DNF
4 Nestor Briceno (UF) def. Joseph Lok (Penn), 7-6 (4), 6-3
5 Chris Brandi (UF) def. Justin Fox (Penn), 6-2, 6-3
6 Ryan Sherry (UF) def. Jimmy Fairbanks (Penn), 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish - 6, 2, 4, 5
Doubles
1 Ryan Sweeting/Vladimir Obradovic (UF) def. Jason Pinsky/Joseph Lok (Penn), 9-7
2 Jonathan Boym/Mikhail Bekker (Penn) def. Janne Holmia/Greg Ouellette (UF), 8-5
3 Brandon O'Gara/Justin Fox (Penn) def. Stefan Tell/Nestor Briceno (UF), 8-6
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2
