Florida Gators
South Carolina
No. 6 Men's Tennis Downs South Carolina, 6-1, on Senior Day
Saturday, April 17, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The sixth-ranked Florida men's tennis team posted a 6-1 Senior Day victory over South Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in its regular season finale.
The Gators (17-3, 9-1 SEC) now await the SEC Tournament draw, where they will receive a first-round bye before opening in the quarterfinals on Friday in Lexington, Ky. South Carolina finishes its regular season at 9-12 and 1-10 in the SEC.
“We played a disciplined match today,” said head coach Andy Jackson. “We're looking forward to a big weekend at the SEC Tournament next week.”
Florida swept the doubles point, with 11th-ranked Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) and Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France) downing No. 29 Pedro Campos and Diego Cubas on court one, followed by the clincher by Daniel Cash (Oslo, Norway) and Bob Van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) on court three.
Cash, one of the seniors honored on Saturday, served out his clinching doubles match.
“Obviously, it's always good to get a win, especially on senior day,” Cash said. “Bob and I were able to pull through even though we didn't play our best. But a win is a win, and it feels good.
“Doubles are going to be very important in SECs and NCAAs,” Cash continued. “Bob and I have had some wins against some great teams, so hopefully when everything is on the line we'll be able to pull through. Our experience from earlier matches will help us out.”
The doubles sweep was completed with a court two victory by No. 49 Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) and Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.). All 16 games went on serve, and the Gators managed to pull out the tiebreaker, 7-5.
Benneteau and Lacroix were also the first to get Florida on the board in singles action, with Benneteau claiming his match in straight sets in one hour and 32 minutes with the fourth-ranked Lacroix following just one minute later with a victory over No. 31 Campos.
The outcome would not be sealed for nearly another hour as the four remaining matches went to a third set.
Shortly after Burkhardt fell short on court two, the trio of first-year Gators on courts four, five and six finished off their respective opponents in rapid-fire succession.
The clincher came from Van Overbeek at the No. 4 position, followed almost instantly by Bangoura's winner on court five. With the outcome in hand for the Gators, Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) led 5-2 when Johannes Pulsfort retired to close the day's action.
“Our focus was good,” Bangoura said. “We wanted to go out and fight for the win. We know we'll be in contention for the SEC Tournament next week, and matches like this help us stay focused.”
“These matches help us, getting a tough win in matches where you're expected to win,” Van Overbeek agreed.
The SEC Tournament kicks off Thursday at 9 a.m. with first-round action, with Florida among the four teams receiving byes into the quarterfinals, along with Tennessee, Georgia and host Kentucky.
Prior to Saturday's match, seniors Benneteau and Cash were recognized for their contributions to Florida tennis throughout their careers here.
Schedule updates and results for the SEC Tournament will be available on www.GatorZone.com.
Florida vs. South Carolina
Doubles
1 – (11) Benneteau/Lacroix (UF) def. (29) Campos/Cubas (SC) – 8-5
2 – (49) Bangoura/Burkhardt (UF) def. Cressoni/Machado (SC) – 9-8 (5)
3 – Cash/Van Overbeek (UF) def. Kostonov/Pulsfort (SC) – 9-7*
Order of Finish – 1, 3*, 2
Singles
1 – (4) Alexandre Lacroix (UF) def. (31) Pedro Campos (SC) – 6-3, 6-3
2 – (67) Diego Cubas (SC) def. (96) Joey Burkhardt (UF) – 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4
3 – Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Ivan Cressoni (SC) – 6-4, 6-4
4 – Bob Van Overbeek (UF) def. Alexander Kostanov (SC) – 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-4*
5 – Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) def. Ivan Machado (SC) – 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
6 – Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Johannes Pulsfort (SC) – 3-6, 7-5, 5-2 (ret.)
Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2, 4*, 5, 6
-UF-
