Florida Gators
South Carolina
Men?s Tennis Shuts Out South Carolina To Finish Second In SEC
Saturday, April 15, 2006 | Men's Tennis
The No. 14 University of Florida men's tennis team shut out South Carolina, 7-0, Saturday afternoon in Gainesville to close out the regular season. With the victory, UF improved to 14-6 overall and 8-3 in the Southeastern Conference, which gives the Gators at least a share of second place in the league. South Carolina evened its record at 13-13 and finished conference play with a 5-6 mark.
Florida's conference record included a 5-0 record at home in 2006, marking the fourth straight year UF completed the regular season without dropping a home match to an SEC foe.
The match, which was UF's fifth straight victory, closed out regular season careers of five members of the squad, who were honored in a ceremony prior to the action (Stefan Tell, Janne Holmia, Ryan Sherry, Vladimir Obradovic and Chris Brandi).
“We finished second in the SEC and the team should be proud of that,” said UF head coach Andy Jackson. “I feel like we're playing a lot better than we were at the beginning of the year. We have the talent to compete against top five ranked teams and our confidence is growing. The group of guys we lose have never lost a home match against an SEC opponent, they have never finished below second in the SEC and they've won two SEC titles. Their careers have meant a lot to our program.”
Florida opened the match by securing the doubles point that came down to court two where Brandi teamed with sophomore Greg Ouellette for an 8-5 victory against South Carolina's Jaime Cuellar and Yevgeny Supeko. Holmia and sophomore Nestor Briceno put UF in a position to get the point by defeating USC's Adam Adler and Joseph Veeder at the bottom of the order in 33 minutes.
The Gators went on to sweep the singles courts with each of the victories coming in straight sets. The lead stretched to 2-0 in favor of the Gators when USC's Tom Eklund was forced to retire his match on court one in the second set with Obradovic (No. 65) leading 6-0, 2-1.
Brandi pushed the lead to 3-0 as he took out Thomas Stoddard on court five (6-0, 6-2). With the win, Brandi has won four of his last five matches as he has gone 13-2 at the position in the order this season.
Briceno (No. 48) provided the clincher with a 6-3, 6-2 showing of his own on court three. This season, Briceno led the Gators in dual match play against SEC opponents as he wrapped up the regular season with a 10-1 record.
Sherry got his third straight win on court six by taking out Adler 6-3, 6-1. Over the last two seasons, Sherry has compiled a 32-5 record at the spot in the order.
Ouellette (No. 34) increased the lead to 6-0 in Florida's favor as he posted a 6-3, 6-2 score against Cuellar on court two. Ouellette has won seven straight matches as he built on the team's longest active win streak.
Tell preserved the shutout by holding off Supeko on court four, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7). The win was his seventh at the number four spot this season (7-1).
With its SEC record, Florida assured itself a first round bye in the SEC Tournament, which begins on Thursday, April 20, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Each SEC team concludes play on Saturday as UF awaits the announcement of the draw, which will be released Saturday night. Gator fans are encouraged to check www.gatorzone.com for the latest information on the event.
No. 14 Florida vs. No. 35 South Carolina
Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Florida
Doubles
Tom Eklund/Pedro Rodrigues (USC) def. Vladimir Obradovic/Stefan Tell (UF), 8-4
Chris Brandi/Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Jaime Cuellar/Yevgeny Supeko (USC), 8-5
Nestor Briceno/Janne Holmia (UF) def. Adam Adler/Joseph Veeder (USC), 8-1
Order of Finish – 3, 1, 2
Singles
No. 65 Vladimir Obradovic (UF) def. Tom Eklund (USC), 6-0, 2-1 (ret.)
No. 34 Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Jaime Cuellar (USC), 6-3, 6-2
No. 48 Nestor Briceno (UF) def. Pedro Rodrigues (USC), 6-3, 6-2
Stefan Tell (UF) def. Yevgeny Supeko (USC), 7-6 (4), 7-6 (7)
Chris Brandi (UF) def. Thomas Stoddard (USC), 6-0, 6-2
Ryan Sherry (UF) def. Adam Adler (USC), 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish – 1, 5, 3, 6, 2, 4
