Florida Gators
#2 Ohio State (ITA Team Indoors - Quarterfinals)
No. 12 Men's Tennis Edged, 4-3, by No. 2 Ohio State in ITA Indoors Quarterfinals
Saturday, February 13, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The No. 12 University of Florida men's tennis team came up just short on Saturday, falling 4-3 to No. 2 Ohio State in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.
“It was obviously extremely close, and we had a chance to win,” UF head coach Andy Jackson said. “Ohio State was just a little stronger than us today. We were disappointed to lose, but I was pleased that we had the grit to be in a position where we had a chance to win.”
The Gators got off to a good start, taking the doubles point to jump out to an early lead. At the No. 1 position, 10th-ranked Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) and Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France) clinched the doubles point with a 9-8 (7) win, extending their winning streak to nine. Daniel Cash (Oslo, Norway) and Bob Van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) grabbed the other doubles victory for the Gators, also winning in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (3).
On the singles side, UF received wins from Benneteau at No. 3 and Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) at No. 6, who both took their respective match in straight sets. Benneteau improves to a 7-0 singles record in dual match play this spring, winning all seven matches in straight sets. Benneteau has allowed his opponent two games or less in 12 of those 14 sets.
The Gators play their final match of the ITA Indoors on Sunday at 6:30 p.m., when they will take on either Georgia or host Virginia.
Results and links to live scoring will be available on www.GatorZone.com. Complete tournament information can be found on the ITA's website or Virginia's official athletic site.
Results
Doubles
1 – (10) Benneteau/Lacroix (UF) def. Buchanan/Kronauge (OSU) – 9-8 (7)
2 – Marcan/Novak (OSU) def. Bangoura/Burkhardt (UF) – 8-6
3 – Cash/Van Overbeek (UF) def. Allare/Uzawa (OSU) – 9-8 (3)
Order of finish: 2, 3, 1
Singles
1 – (103) Chase Buchanan (OSU) def. (7) Alexandre Lacroix (UF) – 6-2, 6-4
2 – Justin Kronauge (OSU) def. Joey Burkhardt (UF) – 6-1, 6-3
3 – Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Dino Marcan (OSU) – 6-1, 6-1
4 – (34) Shuhei Uzawa (OSU) def. Bob Van Overbeek (UF) – 6-4, 7-5
5 – Balazs Novak (OSU) def. Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) – 6-1, 6-2
6 – Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Matt Allare (OSU) – 6-2, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 3, 1, 2, 5, 4
-UF-
