The No. 13 University of Florida men's tennis team gave No. 4 Baylor a tough test, but fell short as the Gators dropped a 5-2 decision to the Bears Sunday afternoon in Waco, Texas. With the loss, UF dropped to 2-2, while Baylor remained undefeated at 6-0 overall.
Florida dropped a tightly-contested doubles point with losses on the top two courts. Florida's Nestor Briceno (Sr., Pembroke Pines) and Alex Lacroix (Fr., Paris, France) picked up the first win with an 8-5 decision over Baylor's Denes Lukacs and Attila Bucko, however, Baylor came away with slim victories at the other two spots in the order for the 1-0 lead. Briceno and Lacroix improved to 4-0 in doubles this year in dual matches.
In singles play, Baylor got wins on four of the six courts to secure the win. Florida's eighth-ranked Greg Ouellette (Sr., Ormond Beach) nationally took out Baylor's Lars Poerchke at the top of the order, 7-5, 6-4. Poerschke entered this season having earned All-America honors twice in his career for his singles play.
Florida's second point came from Tyler Hochwalt (Fr., Scottsdale, Ariz.) moved to 4-0 on the year by holding off Baylor's Jordan Rux on court five. Hochwalt dropped the first set, 6-4, before going on to win the next two, 7-6 (4), 10-5.
Florida returns to action on Friday, Feb. 8 as the Gators take on No. 55 USF at 3 p.m. in Gainesville before returning to the courts a day later against No. 17 Florida State on Saturday, Feb. 9 at 1 p.m. Admission to the matches is free.
College Men's Tennis
Waco, Texas
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Final Score: Baylor 5, Florida 2
Doubles
No. 1 David Galic Jordan Rux (Baylor) def. Jeff Dadamo-Tyler Hochwalt (UF), 9-7
No. 2 Lars Poerchke/Dominik Mueller (Baylor) def. Greg Ouellette-Johnny Hamui (UF), 8-6
No. 3 Nestor Briceno-Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Denes Lukacs/Attila Bucko (Baylor), 8-5
Singles
No. 1 (8) Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Lars Poerschke (Baylor), 7-5, 6-4
No. 2(10) Denes Lukacs (Baylor) def. (57) Alex Lacroix (UF), 6-2, 7-5
No. 3 Gwen Corches (Baylor) def. (62) Nestor Briceno (UF), 7-6 (5), 7-5
No. 4 (80) David Galic (Baylor) def. Jeff Dadamo (UF), 6-4, 6-2
No. 5 Tyler Hochwalt (UF) def. Jordan Rux (Baylor), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 10-5
No. 6 Dominik Mueller (Baylor) def. Johnny Hamui (UF), 6-2, 6-2
Order of Finish: Doubles – 3, 1, 2 Singles – 4, 6, 1, 2, 5, 3
END OF REPORT
