GAINESVILLE, FLA--The seventh-seeded Florida men's tennis team advanced through the first round of the NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament with a 4-0 win over South Carolina State on Friday at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
Sophomore Billy Federhofer and junior Nassim Slilam posted an 8-5 victory at the second position before the 17th-ranked pair of sophomore Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) and senior Alexandre Lacroix clinched the point on court one with an 8-4 win over Gabriel Meana and Peteris Vinogradous.
“We started a little slow on the doubles and got behind because of the heat,” said SC State head coach Hardeep Judge. “Give Florida credit they played a tremendous match and came out on top.”
Florida carried its momentum into singles play as freshman Spencer Newman (Miami, Fla.) posted a dominant 6-1, 6-1 win on court six against David Grund. Slilam, playing at the No. 2 position, picked up UF's third point with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Dymtro Kovalevych. Moments later, Bangoura sealed the Gator shutout with a 6-2, 6-1 defeat of Anton Protsenko on court three.
South Carolina State finishes the season 0-2 against the Gators and 15-4 overall.
#8 Florida 4, South Carolina State 0
NCAA First Round
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
May 13, 2011
Doubles
1 – #17 Bangoura/Lacroix (UF) def. Meana/Vinogradous (SCSU) 8-4 (:54)
2 – Federhofer/Slilam (UF) vs. Kovalevych/Protsenko (SCSU) 8-5 (:47)
3 – Butz/van Overbeek (UF) led Grund/Nikitin (SCSU) 7-5 (DNF)
Order of Finish: 2-1
Singles
1 – #7 Alexandre Lacroix (UF) led Gabriel Meana (SCSU) 6-2, 4-5 (DNF)
2 – #89 Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Dymtro Kovalevych (SCSU) 6-1, 6-3 (1:06)
3 – *#40 Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) def. Anton Protsenko (SCSU) 6-2, 6-1 (1:06)
4 – #118 Bob van Overbeek (UF) led Peteris Vinogradovs (SCSU) 7-5, 1-1 (DNF)
5 – Billy Federhofer (UF) led Artemiy Nikitin (SCSU) 5-4 (DNF)
6 – Spencer Newman (UF) def. David Grund (SCSU) 6-1, 6-1 (:57)
Order of Finish: 6-2-3
*Clinching point