GATOR MEN’S TENNIS TEAM FALLS TO UCLA AT USTA/ITA NATIONAL TEAM INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Friday, February 25

Louisville, KY

4:00 PM

Florida Gators

UCLA at National Team Indoors

GATOR MEN’S TENNIS TEAM FALLS TO UCLA AT USTA/ITA NATIONAL TEAM INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

Friday, February 25, 2000 | Men's Tennis

By: Jeff Kamis

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The fourth-ranked University of Florida men's tennis team (5-1) lost for the first time this season as it dropped a 7-1 match to seventh-ranked UCLA (10-1) Friday afternoon in the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships at the Louisville Tennis Club.

Florida will face No. 5 Mississippi, which lost to No. 3 Duke, on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. ET in the third-place match. UCLA now leads the all-time series with the Gators, 7-0, including four victories at the National Team Indoors.

The Bruins opened the match by sweeping the three doubles matches to gain a 2-0 lead, marking the first time this season the Gators have lost the doubles point. UCLA's 39^th-ranked team of Brandon Kramer and Jong-Min Lee posted an 8-6 victory over UF juniors Jeff Morrison and Nathan Overholser at number one, handing the UF duo their first loss of the year. UF senior Justin O'Neal and junior Marcos Asse also lost for the first time in dual play, falling 8-4 at number two. UF's freshmen duo of Matt Behrmann and Troy Hahn also dropped their first match as a team, losing 8-5 at number three doubles.

UCLA continued its dominance in singles, winning in straight sets at the bottom five matches in the lineup. Kramer, who is ranked 47^thin the latest WingspanBank.com collegiate rankings, downed UF's 12^th-ranked O'Neal, 6-3, 6-4 at number two and Julien Rojer, who is rated tied for 79^th, knocked off Overholser at number three, 6-2, 6-4. Gator sophomore Olivier Levant fell at number four and Behrmann lost at number five. Chris Sands, who is ranked tied for 79^th, posted a win over Hahn at number six. Florida's lone winner was fifth-ranked Morrison, who rallied for a three-set win over Lee, who is rated tied for 94^th, at number one singles.

The tournament, the nation's premier indoor tournament, includes seven of the top 10 teams in the latest WingspanBank.com collegiate rankings and runs through Sunday, Feb. 27. The tournament is using an experimental dual match format intended to shorten matches to less than three hours. Among the major differences in this format are: match tie-breakers (first to 10, win by two) being played in place of a third set in singles, teams being awarded two points (instead of one) for sweeping doubles and the possibility of overtime existing if a match is tied 4-4 after singles.

2000 USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships - Quarterfinals
No. 7 UCLA (10-1) 7
No. 4 FLORIDA (5-1) 1
Friday, February 25, 2000
Louisville Tennis Club, Louisville, Ky.

DOUBLES
No. 1 – Brandon Kramer-Jong-Min Lee (UCLA) d. Jeff Morrison-Nathan Overholser (UF) 8-6
No. 2 – Jean-Noel Grinda-Julien Rojer (UCLA) d. Marcos Asse-Justin O'Neal (UF) 8-4
No. 3 – Lassi Ketola-Travis Rettenmaier (UCLA) d. Matt Behrmann-Troy Hahn (UF) 8-5

SINGLES
No. 1 – Jeff Morrison (UF) d. Jong-Min Lee (UCLA) 6-7 (8), 7-6 (1), 1-0 (10-8)
No. 2 – Brandon Kramer (UCLA) d. Justin O'Neal (UF) 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 – Julien Rojer (UCLA) d. Nathan Overholser (UF) 6-2, 6-4
No. 4 – Lassi Ketola (UCLA) d. Olivier Levant (UF) (UCLA) 6-3, 6-2
No. 5 – Erfan Djahangiri (UCLA) d. Matt Behrmann (UF) 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 – Chris Sands (UCLA) d. Troy Hahn (UF) 6-3, 6-4