GAINESVILLE, Fla. (February 25, 2007) - In only its third road match of the season, the University of South Florida men's tennis team put up a fight, but was edged 4-3 by the No. 12 Gators Sun. afternoon at Ring Tennis Complex.
The Bulls (3-6) fell in all three doubles matches to open play. Henning Hipp and Daniel Daudt gave UF (4-2) a struggle at the second position, but could not defeat Dan Cash and Billy Mulligan, who prevailed 9-7.
At the third spot, Ales Svigelj and Marc Jaeger gained a 5-2 edge on Nestor Briceno and Geoffrey Barton, but the pair rallied to win five straight games and take the match 8-6.
Singles play saw the Gators jump to a 4-0 lead to secure the match before USF got on the board.
Jaeger and Hipp could not overcome the Gators' two top-50 ranked singles players in the first two spots. No. 45 Jesse Levine set down Jaeger 6-1, 6-2 at No. 1 and No. 18 Greg Ouellette got past Hipp 6-2, 6-2 at No. 2.
Diego Toledo suffered only his second loss of the season, falling to Jordan Dolberg 6-2, 6-3 in the sixth flight.
With the match clinched for UF, USF saw the middle of its lineup come to life as the strong play of newcomers Mahmoud Hamed and Thomas Estrada continued. Hamed took down Mulligan 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4 and Estrada used a three set tiebreak to banish Dan Cash 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(2) at No. 5. Ales Svigelj dropped his first set against No. 97 Briceno 6-3, but battled back and took the edge in the final two highly competitive sets, 7-6(2) and 1-0(9).
The men's team will rest for the next week before welcoming St. John's to the USF Varsity Tennis Courts Wed., Mar. 7 at 2 p.m. The match will open BIG EAST play for the Bulls as they also have upcoming matches against Marquette and Louisville this season. Admission to all matches is free.
No. 12 Florida 4, USF 3
Doubles
1) Ouellette/Levine, UF def. Hamed/Estrada, USF, 8-2
2) Cash/Mulligan, UF def. Hipp/Daudt, USF, 9-7
3) Briceno/Barton, UF def. Svigelj/Jaeger, USF, 8-6
Singles
1) Jesse Levine (45), UF def. Marc Jaeger, USF, 6-1, 6-2
2) Greg Ouellette (18), UF def. Henning Hipp, USF, 6-2, 6-2
3) Ales Svigelj, USF def. Nestor Briceno (97), UF, 3-6, 7-6 (2), 1-0 (9)
4) Mahmoud Hamed, USF def. Billy Mulligan, UF, 6-3, 7-5
5) Thomas Estrada, USF def. Dan Cash, UF, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (2)
6) Jordan Dolberg, UF def. Diego Toledo, USF 6-2, 6-3
