No. 6 Men's Tennis Welcomes South Carolina for Regular Season Finale, Senior Day
Friday, April 16, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The sixth-ranked Florida Gators men's tennis team (16-3, 8-1 SEC) wraps up its regular season schedule on Saturday at 1 p.m., hosting South Carolina (9-11, 1-8 SEC) at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
Prior to the match, a presentation will be made honoring UF's two seniors, Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) and Daniel Cash (Oslo, Norway), who will be competing in their final home regular season match.
“We're going to try to send them out with a win,” head coach Andy Jackson said. “We're really looking forward to the rest of the season. We didn't get that first SEC regular season championship, but we feel like we have a real shot at the [SEC] tournament championship and also the NCAA regional and hopefully the big prize at the end of the year.”
The Gators enter the match having won 11 of their last 12 matches and have locked up a first-round bye in next week's SEC Tournament and need a win Saturday to have an opportunity for the No. 2 seed.
Florida heads into the match with Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France) holding the highest singles ranking of his career, sitting at No. 4 following two high-quality wins last weekend including a straight-sets win over Tennessee's then-No. 2 John-Patrick Smith. Lacroix and Benneteau also make up UF's top doubles pair, currently ranked 11th nationally.
Also ranked in both singles and doubles is sophomore Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.), who checks in at No. 96 in singles and in doubles holds the No. 49 spot with his partner, freshman Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.)
The Gators are a combined 48-8 on singles courts four, five and six this spring, with newcomers primarily occupying those slots in Bangoura and fellow freshman Bob Van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) along with sophomore Nassim Slilam (Paris, France).
“The first-year guys have all been spectacular for us all year,” Jackson said. “They've really put their heart into it. As a team, to have first-year guys like that along with the returners that we've got, it's been a very good experience for us this year and one that we would like to continue for about six more weeks.”
In the hours following Saturday's action, the Gators will learn their seeding for the SEC Tournament next week in Lexington, Ky. The first round takes place Thursday, April 22, but as recipients of a bye UF will first take the courts on Friday, April 23, in the quarterfinals. Match start times will not be determined until seeding has been finalized.
Admission is free for Saturday's showdown with South Carolina. Following the match, Jackson and the team will host a free youth skills clinic for kids age 12 and under.
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