Florida Gators
Mississippi State (SEC Tournament Quarterfinals)
Men's Tennis Advances to SEC Tournament Semifinals
Saturday, April 24, 2010 | Men's Tennis
The sixth-ranked Florida men's tennis team defeated Mississippi State, 4-1, in the Southeastern Conference quarterfinals on Friday at the University of Kentucky's Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex in Lexington, Ky.
With the win, the second-seeded Gators (18-3) advance to Saturday's semifinals. They will meet sixth seed Auburn, which upset third-seeded Georgia, at 10 a.m. on Saturday.
“I think [Misssissippi State] had some rhythm and confidence from playing yesterday,” head coach Andy Jackson said. “We were a little bit uptight and rusty, but I thought we played hard and played with a lot of discipline. We can play a lot better. I'm expecting that we have a good chance to play better tomorrow.”
· Highlights and Post-Match Interviews
Florida cruised to the doubles point to take the early lead over the Bulldogs. Daniel Cash (Oslo, Norway) and Bob Van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) battled back from an early 3-1 deficit to rattle off seven consecutive games to win, 8-3.
Almost simultaneous to the court three victory, the 14th-ranked pair of Antoine Benneteau (Boulogne-Billancourt, France) and Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France) closed out the doubles point with an 8-2 court one win.
The fifth-ranked Lacroix then led the charge in singles, defeating No. 109 George Coupland in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4, with the clincher coming on a second-serve ace down the middle of the court.
Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) then brought UF to the doorstep with a straight-sets victory of his own on court six, topping Max Gregor Smith, 6-2, 6-3.
“Today was good,” Bangoura said. “I was hitting the ball pretty solid and just trying to find my groove.”
Benneteau fell short in a hard-fought match on court three, leaving the Gators with a trio of three-set matches from which they needed one victory.
That clincher came in a dominating 6-0 third set from Nassim Slilam (Paris, France), wrapping up the day's action. Matches still in action after the clinching point has been won are abandoned during tournament play.
At the time Slilam's match ended, Joey Burkhardt (St. Augustine, Fla.) was also in great position to clinch court two up, 4-0, in the third set. Van Overbeek, meanwhile, was in a hotly contested court four match that was on serve at 4-3 in the final set.
Follow all of tomorrow's action on GatorZone's live interactive blog at www.GatorZone.com/coveritlive Saturday at 10 a.m.
Florida vs. Mississippi State – SEC Tournament Quarterfinals
Doubles
1 – (14) Benneteau/Lacroix (UF) def. (35) Coupland/Ilyushin (MSU) – 8-2*
2 – (51) Bangoura/Burkhardt (UF) vs. Sanchez/Stump (MSU) – 5-4 (DNF)
3 – Cash/Van Overbeek (UF) def. Cant/Doett (MSU) – 8-3
Order of Finish: 3, 1*
Singles
1 – (5) Alexandre Lacroix (UF) def. (109) George Coupland (MSU) – 6-2, 6-4
2 – (113) Joey Burkhardt (UF) vs. (62) Louis Cant (MSU) – 6-4, 3-6, 4-0 (DNF)
3 – Artem Ilyushin (MSU) def. Antoine Benneteau (UF) – 6-3, 7-6 (5)
4 – Bob Van Overbeek vs. Antonio Lastre (MSU) – 6-3, 1-6, 4-3 (DNF)
5 – Nassim Slilam def. Daniel Sanchez (MSU) – 3-6, 6-4, 6-0*
6 – Sekou Bangoura Jr. def. Max Gregor Smith (MSU) – 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 3, 5*
-UF-
