Florida Gators
Ole Miss
UF Men's Tennis Starts SEC Play With 5-2 Win Over No. 5 Ole Miss
Saturday, March 4, 2006 | Men's Tennis
For the second time in as many matches, the seventh-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team met No. 5 Ole Miss this time coming away with a critical 5-2 victory Friday afternoon at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville. The match was the SEC opener for both teams, which shared the league title a season ago. With the win, UF improved to 7-2 on the season and won its SEC opener for the fourth time in five seasons under head coach Andy Jackson. Ole Miss, which was playing outdoors for the second time this year, fell to 8-2 overall and 0-1 in league play.
On Feb. 19, the two teams met in the consolation round at the National Team Indoors with Ole Miss taking a 4-2 win marking the second year in a row for the two to face each other at the National Team Indoor, as Ole Miss beat Florida 4-1 in last year's quarterfinals. Entering Friday's match Ole Miss had won three straight against Florida including a 5-2 win in Oxford in the 2005 regular season. Florida owns the advantage over Ole Miss under Jackson leading 4-3 including a 3-0 mark in Gainesville.
"After the loss in Seattle and the win today we each have one this season and I won't be surprised to see them again," said Jackson. "Today's win was big as it goes towards the SEC title, but I'd rather have won them both. We had a big advantage today playing outdoors in Gainesville and they had the advantage last month on the indoor courts. To their credit they took advantage of that and to ours we did as well. I thought the team responded well to the pressure today after losing two in a row. We played with energy and intensity. We played our best tennis of the year; however, we can get better as move along."
After dropping the point in each of its last three outings and four times this season the Gators edged the Rebels on court two to come away with the early lead. UF junior Janne Holmia and senior Vladimir Obradovic, which were paired together for the first time on the year, outlasted Jakob Klaeson and Bram Ten Berge, 9-7. Senior Chris Brandi and Greg Ouellette worked their way to a 8-5 win on court three against Juan Pablo Di Cesare and Robbye Poole to force the outcome to the second court.
In singles UF clinched the match before the Rebels were able to get a point. Obradovic made quick work of Berge (No. 68) on court three as he posted a 6-3, 6-0 victory in 56 minutes. In the indoor match in Seattle, Obradovic also defeated Berge (6-2, 4-6, 6-3).
Two minutes later, Brandi inched UF closer to the win as he took a 6-1, 6-3 victory against Poole on court five. Brandi's victory was his 11th consecutive in dual match play which ranks as the second longest active streak among SEC players.
Sophomore Nestor Briceno (No. 38) got the clincher on court four with a 6-1, 6-3 win against Di Cesare (No. 61). The Ole Miss senior was the highest ranked opponent Briceno has defeated this season.
With the match no longer in doubt each of the remaining courts went into super tiebreakers in the third sets. Senior Stefan Tell added to the UF point total with a 7-6 (4), 3-6, 14-12 win over Klaesson on court six.
UF returns to the courts Sunday against No. 27 Mississippi State at 1 p.m. in Gainesville. The Bulldogs are 2-2 overall and 0-1 in SEC play after falling to No. 47 South Carolina Friday in Columbia, 5-2.
No. 7 Florida vs. No. 5 Ole Miss
Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Florida
Singles
No. 12 Erling Tveit (OM) def. No. 34 Greg Ouellette (UF), 4-6, 7-5, 10-3
Eric Claesson (OM) def. Janne Holmia (UF), 6-3, 6-7 (5), 11-9
Vladimir Obradovic (UF) def. No. 68 Bram Ten Berge (OM), 6-3, 6-0
No. 38 Nestor Briceno (UF) def. No. 61 Juan Pablo Di Cesare (OM), 6-1, 6-3
Chris Brandi (UF) def. Robbye Poole (OM), 6-0, 6-3
Stefan Tell (UF) def. Jakob Klaesson (OM), 7-6 (4), 3-6, 14-12
Order of Finish - 3, 5, 4, 1, 2, 6
* - Super Tiebreakers were used on courts 1, 2, 6 once the match had been determined
Doubles
No. 12 Eric Claesson/Erling Tveit (OM) def. Stefan Tell/Nestor Briceno (UF), 8-5
Janne Holmia/Vladimir Obradovic (UF) def. Jakob Klaeson/Bram Ten Berge (OM), 9-7
Chris Brandi/Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Juan Pablo Di Cesare/Robbye Poole (OM), 8-5
Order of Finish - 1, 3, 2,
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