Florida Gators
Illinois
No. 7 M-Tennis Edged Out By No. 13 Illinois, 4-3
Wednesday, February 11, 2009 | Men's Tennis
The seventh-ranked UF men's team suffered a narrow defeat in the team's first road match of the spring season. The Gators (5-1) were dealt their first loss by a 4-3 margin to No. 13 Illinois (5-2).
The Gators began the match with a 1-0 advantage after earning the doubles point with wins by their No. 2 and No. 3 pairs. Sophomore Jeff Dadamo (Tampa, Fla.) and redshirt junior Daniel Cash (Oslo, Norway) claimed the first match after defeating the No. 36 team of Billy Heiser and Ruan Roelofse, 8-5. Sophomore Alex Lacroix (Paris, France) and freshman Carlos Cueto (Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain) clinched the doubles point for UF with a 9-8 (2) win over Brian Livingston and Dennis Nevolo.
After suffering two losses on courts three and six, Lacroix tied the match 2-2 after defeating Roelofse in straight sets, 7-5, 6-4. Dadamo gave the Orange and Blue a 3-2 advantage after downing Billy Heiser handily, 7-6, 6-4. Unfortunately the singles victories were not enough, as the Illini bounced back to claim victories on courts four and one and finalize the score, 4-3.
The Gators will remain in Illinois as they travel to Chicago for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. UF is guarenteed three matches of play and will begin the tournament against No. 11 Stanford. Please visit www.GatorZone.com for results.
College Men's Tennis
Atkins Tennis Center
Urbana, Ill.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Final Score: Illinois – 4, Florida – 3
Doubles
No. 1 Czerwinski/Spicijaric (Illinois) def. Benneteau/Burkhardt (UF), 8-3
No. 2 Cash/Dadamo (UF) def. (36) Heiser/Roelofse (Illinois), 8-5
No. 3 Lacroix/Cueto (UF) def. Livingston/Nevolo (Illinois), 9-8 (2)
Singles
No. 1 (41) Dennis Nevolo (Illinois) def. (87) Carlos Cueto (UF), 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 2 Alex Lacroix (UF) def. Ruan Roelofse (Illinois), 7-5, 6-4
No. 3 (101) Marc Spicijaric (Illinois) def. Antoine Benneteau (UF), 6-2, 6-2
No. 4 Marek Czerwinski (Illinois) def. (63) Joey Burkhardt (UF), 7-5, 6-3
No. 5 Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Billy Heiser (Illinois), 7-6, 6-4
No. 6 Meedo El Tabakh (Illinois) def. Daniel Cash (UF), 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles – 2, 1, 3 Singles – 3, 6, 2, 5, 4, 1
-UF-
