Florida Gators
Pepperdine
Men's Tennis Falls To Pepperdine, 4-3
Tuesday, February 26, 2008 | Men's Tennis
The No. 14 University of Florida men's tennis team fell for the first time in the 2008 season at home as the Gators were defeated, 4-3, by No. 22 Pepperdine Monday afternoon at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville. With the loss, the Gators slipped to 5-3 on the year, while the Waves improved to 2-5 overall.
Pepperdine was the third-straight top 25 opponent the Gators faced and the second in as many days as the Gators defeated the other two (then-No. 14 Florida State, 5-2, Feb. 9; No. 9 Illinois, 6-1, Feb. 24).
“I'm proud of the way we responded after falling behind,” said UF head coach Andy Jackson. “I was pleased with that. Pepperdine was just better today even with playing us at home, which is a tough place to play. The last two days had an NCAA tournament feel and that's what we were trying to produce with matches on back-to-back days. Overall, we did a good job this weekend and we have another one just like it coming up. We are way more prepared for the SEC than we were in January, but we've got a long way to go.”
After falling behind 3-1, the match came down to court four where UF freshman Jeff Dadamo was edged by Pepperdine's James Lemke, 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-5, in a match that lasted just over three hours.
Pepperdine got things started with wins on the top two doubles courts to take a 1-0 lead. The lone UF win came on court three where Nestor Briceno and Alex Lacroix improved to 7-1 on the year by defeating Pepperdine's Brian Brogan and Johannes de Villers, 8-1, in 36 minutes.
The Waves increased the lead to 2-0 with a win on the top singles court before Tyler Hochwalt cut the lead in half with a 6-3, 6-3 showing against Mahmoud Kamel on court five. Hochwalt's win was his team-leading seventh on the year six of which have come in straight sets.
After a Pepperdine victory on court three made it 3-1 in favor of the Waves, UF's Johnny Hamui got his fourth-straight win by outlasting Johannes de Villers on court six (4-6, 6-3, 7-5).
Briceno evened the match for the first time with his second win of the year on court two. After losing the first set, 6-2, to Omar Altmann, Briceno came back and won the next two sets (7-6 (1), 6-4). In the third set, Briceno won four straight games to overcome a 4-2 deficit.
Florida is back in action as it begins Southeastern Conference play on Friday, Feb. 29 at No. 30 Vanderbilt. The match is set to begin at 3 p.m. ET.
College Men's Tennis
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Final Score: Pepperdine 4, Florida 3
Doubles
No. 1 (41) Omar Altmann-Andre Begemann (Pepperdine) def. Greg Ouellette-Jeff Dadamo (UF), 8-3
No. 2 . James Lemke-Bassam Beidas (Pepperdine) def. Geoffrey Barton-Johnny Hamui (UF), 8-5
No. 3 Nestor Briceno-Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Brian Brogan-Johannes de Villers (Pepperdine), 8-1
Singles
No. 1 (16) Andre Begemann (Pepperdine) def. (6) Greg Ouellette (UF), 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 Nestor Briceno (UF) def. Omar Altmann (Pepperdine), 2-6, 7-6 (1), 6-4
No. 3 (22) Bassam Beidas (Pepperdine) def. (58) Alex Lacroix (UF), 2-6, 6-2, 7-5
No. 4 James Lemke (Pepperdine) def. Jeff Dadamo (UF), 7-6 (1), 3-6, 7-5
No. 5 Tyler Hochwalt (UF) def. Mahmoud Kamel (Pepperdine), 6-3, 6-3
No. 6 Johnny Hamui (UF) def. Johannes de Villers (Pepperdine), 4-6, 6-3, 7-5
Order of Finish: Doubles 1, 3, 2 Singles – 1, 5, 3, 6, 2, 4
END OF REPORT
