Florida Gators
.png&width=60&height=60&type=webp)
Mississippi State
Men's Tennis Continues SEC Play With 5-2 Win Over Mississippi State
Sunday, March 23, 2008 | Men's Tennis
The 18th-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team continued to perform well in Southeastern Conference play as they posted a 5-2 victory over Mississippi State Sunday afternoon at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville. Florida improved to 10-4 on the year and won its third straight conference match to move its league mark to 5-1. The Bulldogs slipped to 8-6 overall 2-4 in the SEC.
“What stood out most is how difficult it is to back up big victories (UF def. No. 5 Ole Miss in Oxford on Friday, 5-2) with discipline and effort,” said UF head coach Andy Jackson. “We were able to do it and that means as much to me as the result on Friday. Our confidence is growing, but I think we're also in a good spot knowing we've got a lot to learn and a long way to go. Mississippi State knew they could cause some problems for us and if we were not super ready it could have easily gone the other way.
Doubles started with UF's Nestor Briceno and Alex Lacroix quickly picking up an 8-3 win over Ryan Farlow and Pjotrs Necajevs in 34 minutes. The Gator duo is 11-3 on the year and picked up their second win at the No. 2 spot in the lineup. At the time of the victory, UF trailed on each of the remaining doubles courts, however, the Gators got the win they were looking for when Geoffrey Barton and Tyler Hochwalt slipped past Tanner Stump and Christopher Doerr on court three, 8-6.
In singles play, the bottom of the lineup secured the match with straight set wins on courts four, five and six.
Florida's Erik Corace increased the lead to 2-0 by defeating Stump on court six in just under an hour. Corace, who clinched Friday's match at No. 5 Ole Miss, picked up his third win of the dual season after being inserted in the lineup for the first time since Feb. 9 against the Rebels to start the weekend.
Hochwalt got the Gators to within one of clinching the match by taking out Artem Kuznetsov on court five, 6-3, 6-4. Hochwalt leads the Gators with a 13-1 record and has won in each of his last nine outings.
Dadamo provided the team match winner for the Gators with a 6-2, 6-4 showing over Antonio Lastre on court four. The win snapped a three match losing stretch for the Florida newcomer.
Lacroix increased the lead to 5-0 with a straight set win of his own (6-4, 7-5) as he held off Farlow on court three before Mississippi State got on the board by closing out the match with wins on courts one and two.
Florida returns to the road for its next match as the Gators travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to take on Arkansas on Friday, March 28, at 2 p.m.
College Men's Tennis
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Final Score: Florida 5, Mississippi State, 2
Doubles
No. 1 Ivan Bjelica-Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) def. Greg Ouellette-Jeff Dadamo (UF), 8-5
No. 2 Nestor Briceno-Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Ryan Farlow-Pjotrs Necajevs (MSU), 8-3
No. 3 Tyler Hochwalt-Geoffrey Barton (UF) def. Tanner Stump-Christopher Doerr (MSU), 8-6
Singles
No. 1 (37) Ivan Bjelica (MSU) def. (3) Greg Ouellette (UF), 4-6, 6-4, 10-3
No. 2 (50) Philippe Frayssinoux (MSU) def. Nestor Briceno (UF), 6-2, 7-5
No. 3 (53) Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Ryan Farlow (MSU), 6-4, 7-5
No. 4 Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Antonio Lastre (MSU), 6-2, 6-4
No. 5 Tyler Hochwalt (UF) vs. Artem Kuznetsov (MSU), 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 Erik Corace (UF) def. Tanner Stump (MSU), 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish: Doubles – 2, 1, 3 Singles – 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
END OF REPORT
