No. 7 Men's Tennis Readies For In-State Showdowns
Thursday, February 3, 2011 | Men's Tennis
The seventh-ranked Florida men's tennis team is preparing for weekend of in-state clashes, as the Gators host UCF at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex on Friday at 3 p.m., before traveling to Tallahassee for a Sunday meeting with Florida State.
The Gators (4-0) have won their first four matches of the season for the sixth time under head coach Andy Jackson. Florida holds an all-time record of 15-0 against the Knights (2-0), including 12-0 under Jackson. UF and UCF have met every regular season of Jackson's tenure (since 2002) and three times staged a rematch in the NCAA Regionals (2003, 2004 and 2005).
Florida then renews its rivalry with Florida State (5-2) on Sunday at noon in the Gators' first road test of the season. UF leads the all-time series, 51-20, including 21-8 in Tallahassee and 9-1 overall under Jackson. Florida and Florida State were not able to complete their 2010 match in Gainesville, which was rained out twice. Florida won the teams' last meeting, a 5-2 decision on the road on March 3, 2009.
The Gators are led by SEC Player of the Week Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France), who holds a 4-0 singles and doubles dual record this spring, all at the No. 1 position. He currently holds a No. 4 national singles ranking and a No. 11 doubles ranking with junior Nassim Slilam (Paris, France). Slilam is also undefeated in both singles and doubles during the dual match season.
Also riding a hot streak into the weekend is sophomore Bob van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.), who has won 10 consecutive singles matches dating back to the fall season (4-0 dual). Meanwhile, fellow sophomore Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) picked up his 40th career singles win is last weekend's action against North Carolina State.
Florida comes into the match after last weekend earning a spot in the ITA Team Indoor Championship with victories over UC Santa Barbara and North Carolina State.
Admission to Linder Stadium is free for Friday's match. Fans unable to attend the UF-UCF match in person are encouraged to follow the action on the interactive live blog and live scoring on GatorZone.com.
