Florida Gators
Kentucky
No. 9 Men's Tennis Falls at No. 7 Kentucky, 4-3
Sunday, March 11, 2012 | Men's Tennis
In a matchup of top-10 teams, the ninth-ranked Florida men's tennis team dropped a 4-3 decision at No. 7 Kentucky on Sunday afternoon in Lexington. The Gators got an early lead after taking the doubles point, but the Wildcats claimed four singles victories for the win.
Florida (9-5, 2-2 SEC) got off to a good start by winning at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles over Kentucky (15-3, 4-0). The Gators' eight-ranked pair of Billy Federhofer (North Miami, Fla.) and Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) beat UK's Eric Quigley and Panav Jha, ranked 27th in the nation, on court one, 8-4, while Tripper Carleton (Naples, Fla.) and Michael Alford (Tampa, Fla.) teamed up for the first time this season and beat the Wildcats' Tom Jomby and Alejandro Gomez on court three, 8-4.
Kentucky's Anthony Rossi and Alex Musialek took down UF's Andrew Butz (Vero Beach, Fla.) and Bob van Overbeek (Boca Raton, Fla.) at No. 2 doubles in a tiebreaker, 8-7 (6).
In singles action, the Wildcats took control of the match. Rossi, the 14th-ranked singles player in the country, defeated Carleton, 6-2, 6-4, at No. 3 singles to get Kentucky on the board and even the match.
Quigley, ranked sixth in the nation, gave UK the lead with a 6-4, 6-4 win against van Overbeek at No. 1 singles, and Jomby beat Florent Diep (Paris, France), 7-5, 6-4, on court four to push Kentucky's lead to 3-1.
Federhofer pulled UF back within one after winning 7-6 (4), 6-1 over No. 107 Gomez at No. 5 singles, but Grant Roberts clinched the match for Kentucky at No. 6 singles against Alford, 2-6, 6-2, 6-0. Slilam beat 16th-ranked Musialek, 7-5, 6-1, at No. 2 singles for the final point.
The Gators will have the week off before traveling to Los Angeles to face top-ranked Southern Cal on Monday, March 19 at 6 p.m. eastern time.
#7 Kentucky 4, #9 Florida 3
Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex - Lexington, Kentucky
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Singles:
1. #6 Eric Quigley (UK) def. #51 Bob van Overbeek (UF) 6-4, 6-4
2. Nassim Slilam (UF) def. #16 Alex Musialek (UK) 7-5, 6-1
3. #14 Anthony Rossi (UK) def. Tripper Carleton (UF) 6-2, 6-4
4. #98 Tom Jomby (UK) def. Florent DIep (UF) 7-5, 6-4
5. Billy Federhofer (UF) def. #107 Alejandro Gomez (UK) 7-6 (4), 6-1
6. *Grant Roberts (UK) def. Michael Alford (UF) 2-6, 6-2, 6-0
Doubles:
1. *#8 Slilam/Federhofer (UF) def. #27 Quigley/Jha (UK) 8-4
2. Rossi/Musialek (UK) def. #43 van Overbeek/Butz (UF) 8-7 (6)
3. Carleton/Alford (UF) def. Jomby/Gomez (UK) 8-4
Match Notes:
#7 Kentucky, 15-3 (4-0 SEC)
#9 Florida, 9-5 (2-2 SEC)
Order of Finish: Singles (3, 1, 4, 5, 6*, 2) Doubles (3, 1*, 2)
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