Florida Gators
SEC Tournament - vs. Alabama
Men's Tennis Upsets No. 16 Alabama In SEC Tournament Quarterfinal, 4-3
Friday, April 20, 2007 | Men's Tennis
The University of Florida men's tennis team opened play at the 2007 Southeastern Conference Tournament by upsetting No. 16 Alabama, 4-3, in the quarterfinal round Friday morning in Baton Rouge, La. With the win, UF advanced to the semifinals of the event for the fifth-straight season and the eleventh time in school history.
Florida, now 13-6 on the season and ranked 20th nationally, topped their third top 25 opponent the year as Alabama entered the match ranked 16th in the country. With the loss, the Tide slipped to 20-7 overall.
UF will meet second-seeded and No. 8 ranked Ole Miss in the semifinals on Saturday at Noon ET. The Gators and Rebels also met in the semifinals for the event last season where Ole Miss defeated Florida, 4-2, in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
“We feel like our magic number to be able to host the NCAA first and second rounds now is one,” said UF head coach Andy Jackson. “We were able to upset a top 15 ranked team, and obviously tomorrow will be a little more difficult since we lost to Ole Miss (5-2) in the regular season. We always feel like all of our matches are close and we knew today would be. We weren't surprised by that and we played well”
Florida got a 1-0 lead by grabbing the doubles point with wins at the top and bottom of the lineup. UF's sixth-ranked Greg Ouellette and Jesse Levine took 40 minutes to defeat Alabama's 26th-ranked Dan Buikema and Mathieu Thibaudeau, 8-2. With the win, the two improved to 16-2 on the season in dual matches and 7-1 against ranked opponents. The win was also the ninth straight for the Florida pair.
UF's Nestor Briceno and Geoffrey Barton held off Javier Bes and Billy Mertz, 8-6, to give the Gators the point 10 minutes later. The win moved the UF tandem to 9-5 on the season in dual matches.
In singles play, the top of the order delivered the victory as UF's top three players all won in straight sets. With the score tied at three, the match came down to court three where Briceno edged Sammy Struyf in the second set for a 6-2, 7-5 win.
After falling behind, 2-1, Levine (No. 3) evened things for the second time on the day with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Mertz (No. 76) on court one. Levine, who was named the SEC Freshman of the Year earlier this week, remained unbeaten on the season (18-0). Fifteen of Levine's wins have come in straight sets this season including the last eight straight.
Ouellette (No. 18) pulled the Gators to within one of clinching the match with his 6-3, 6-3 win on court two over No. 92 Joseph Jung. The win was his 15th of the season (15-4) and 12th against a ranked opponent this year.
2007 SEC Men's Tennis Tournament
Baton Rouge, La.
April 19-22, 2007
#3 seed (No. 20) Florida vs. # 6 seed (No. 16) Alabama
Doubles
1 (6) Greg Ouellette-Jesse Levine, UF def. (26) Dan Buikema-Mathieu Thibaudeau, UA, 8-2
2 Joseph Jung-Saketh Myneni, UA vs. Jordan Dolberg-Billy Mulligan, UF, 7-4 DNF
3 Nestor Briceno-Geoffrey Barton, UF def. Javier Bes-Billy Mertz, UA, 8-6
Singles
1 (3) Jesse Levine, UF def. (76) Billy Mertz, UA, 6-4, 6-4
2 (18) Greg Ouellette, UF def. (92) Joseph Jung, UA, 6-3, 6-3
3 Nestor Briceno, UF def. Sammy Struyf, UA, 6-2, 7-5
4 Mathieu Thibaudeau, UA def. Billy Mulligan, UF, 6-1, 6-1
5 Javier Bes, UA def. Jordan Dolberg, UF, 6-4, 6-3
6 Saketh Myneni, UA def. Geoffrey Barton, UF, 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish
Doubles: 1, 3 Singles: 4, 6, 1, 2, 5, 3
