Florida Gators
South Carolina
Men's Tennis Works For 4-3 Win Over South Carolina
Saturday, April 12, 2008 | Men's Tennis
The No. 8 Florida men's tennis team defeated South Carolina, 4-3, Saturday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex to capture the last regular-season game of the year and a first round bye in the upcoming SEC tournament.
With the win, the Gators improve to 13-6 overall and 8-3 in Southeastern Conference play, while the Gamecocks saw their record fall to 10-12 overall and 2-10 in the SEC.
“This was a very important match,” UF head coach Andy Jackson said. “It clinched a bye for us in the SEC Tournament and moves us closer to having the opportunity to host an NCAA Regional. This match made us better because it proved that if we don't play tough and hard we will lose. We were fortunate to win against a team that got after us.”
South Carolina swept doubles and proved to be a challenge for the Gators with five of the six singles matches taking three sets to complete and three matches seeing tiebreakers, with the Gators dropping all three.
Florida captured the first singles match of the day when Freshman Erik Corace (Naples, Fla.) defeated David Wolff 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 in the No. 5 spot.
After losing the tiebreaker in the first set, Freshman Alex Lacroix (Paris, France) was unable to recover and dropped the second set 6-2 to Pedro Campos on Court 3 in just over two hours. Former SEC Men's Tennis Freshman of the Week, Tyler Hochwalt (Scottsdale, Ariz.), picked up the Gators second win of the day coming back after a hard-fought first set to defeat Johannes Pulsfort 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
Senior Greg Ouellette (Ormond Beach, Fla.), who was honored before the game along with fellow senior Nestor Briceno (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), defeated Yevgeny Supeko 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-2 on the showcase court. Briceno made a late run in the third set but was unable to overcome Diego Cubas.
Freshman Johnny Hamui (Wesley Chapel, Fla.) clinched the win for the Gators. Hamui was up 4-0 in the last set when Johannes Pulsfort came back to make it 4-3. Hamui was able to break serve and hang on to his lead for a 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3 decision on court six in just under three hours.
Next up, the Gators will travel to Fayetteville, Ark. for the 2008 SEC Men's Tennis Championships, April 17-20. Florida has captured the title three times, with the most recent win coming in 2005. The draw for the event along with times will be announced Sunday.
College Men's Tennis
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Final Score: Florida 4, South Carolina 3
Doubles
No. 1 Campos-Johannes Pulsfort (USC) def. Nestor Briceno-Alex Lacroix (UF), 8-6
No. 2 Diego Cubas-Ivan Cressoni (USC) def. Tyler Hochwalt-Erik Corace (UF), 8-5
No. 3 Yevgeny Supeko-Thomas Stoddard (USC) def. Jeff Dadamo-Johnny Hamui (UF), 8-3
Singles
No. 1 (4) Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Yevgeny Supeko (USC), 6-7 (7), 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 Diego Cubas (USC) def. (89) Nestor Briceno (UF), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Pedro Campos (USC) def. (51) Alex Lacroix (UF), 7-6 (1), 6-2
No. 4 Tyler Hochwalt (UF) def. Johannes Pulsfort (USC), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
No. 5 Erik Corace (UF) def. David Wolff (USC), 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
No. 6 Johnny Hamui (UF) def. Jaime Cuellar, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles – 2, 3, 1 Singles – 5, 3, 4, 1, 6, 2
-UF-
