ATHENS, Ga. – The 11th-seeded Georgia men’s tennis team had two things going for it Friday night when it took on sixth-seeded Florida in the Round of 16 at the NCAA Division I Tennis Championships.
One, the Bulldogs were playing in front of their home fans at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the University of Georgia campus, which also meant they could survive a nearly 3-hour weather-related delay. And two, the Bulldogs had a pair of losses to the Gators this spring to avenge.
The third time proved to be the charm for Georgia, which stunned Florida, 4-2, concluding the sixth-ranked Gators’ season at 21-5. Florida had beaten Georgia 4-0 in the consolation of the ITA Indoors Championships Feb. 14 in Charlottesville, Va. Then Florida scored a 5-2 Southeastern Conference triumph over the Bulldogs in Gainesville April 11.
“[Georgia’s] got national-championship caliber players at most positions,” Florida coach Andy Jackson said. “They have a great home-court advantage. They did a fabulous job of taking advantage of it. We played very hard and got beat by a very good team.”
The Bulldogs won the doubles point from the Gators to go up 1-0, saw Florida even the match twice with singles victories and finally prevailed by winning matches at Nos. 1 and 2 singles. The victory sends the Bulldogs (20-8) into a Sunday quarterfinal match against Oklahoma, which shocked third-seeded Texas, 4-2, in the final match of the early Saturday morning.
The Gators cruised to a court three doubles victory by senior Daniel Cash and freshman Bob Van Overbeek, who closed the season with eight consecutive wins from the third doubles spot. However, Georgia took the doubles point with wins on courts one and two to take the early 1-0 lead.
Sophomore Nassim Slilam evened the count at 1-1 with a straight-sets victory on court six over Will Reynolds.
The Bulldogs struck next as Drake Bernstein overcame dropping the first set to take the victory over Van Overbeek in three sets. But Florida again evened the match at 2-2 when freshman Sekou Bangoura Jr. closed out Christian Vitulli in straight sets.
Sophomore Joey Burkhardt fought to keep his match on court two alive, battling back from a 4-0 second-set deficit to tie at 4-4, but Nate Schnugg was able to gather himself and close out the win for the Bulldogs.
The clincher came on court one, where junior Alexandre Lacroix fell in a second-set tiebreaker to Javier Garrapiz, giving Georgia the team win.
Senior Antoine Benneteau was still in progress against Jamie Hunt on court three when play was abandoned with Hunt holding a 4-0 lead in the third set.
In spite of the disappointing end to their season, the Gators still accomplished many impressive feats this season. They reached 21 wins for the ninth time in program history even though two matches in which UF led were rained out. UF’s five losses this season are also tied for the team’s second-fewest since 1979 (four in 2000, five in 2003).
“We didn’t even really have a team in the fall with a lot of injuries,” Jackson said. “We had a fantastic recruiting class in January, and in my opinion we’re one of the two or three best teams in the country, just not good enough to beat Georgia at Georgia tonight. I thought we had a very good season.”
From an individual standpoint, the Gators produced two All-American and All-SEC performers in Lacroix and Benneteau. Lacroix spent the bulk of the season in the top 10 nationally in both singles and doubles alongside Benneteau. UF also boasted two SEC All-Freshman Team competitors in Bangoura and Van Overbeek, who combined to win five SEC Freshman of the Week honors this year including a conference-best four by Van Overbeek.
Lacroix and Benneteau will compete in the NCAA individual tournaments, appearing together in the doubles draw while Lacroix will also contend for the singles crown. Action begins in Athens on Wednesday, May 26. The draws for those tournaments are not yet set.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
TEAM COMPETITION / Dan Magill Tennis Complex, University of Georgia / Athens, Ga.
ROUND OF 16 / Friday, May 21
No. 12 GEORGIA 4, No. 6 FLORIDA 2
DOUBLES
1. (32) Javier Garrapiz-Nate Schnugg (G) def. (8) Antoine Benneteau-Alexandre Lacroix, 8-3; 2. Jamie Hunt-Christian Vitulli (G) def. (68) Sekou Bangoura Jr.-Joey Burkhardt, 8-5; 3. Daniel Cash-Bob Van Overbeek (F) def. Drake Bernstein-Will Oliver, 8-3. Order of finish: 3, 1, 2. Georgia wins doubles point, 2-1.
SINGLES
1. (22) Javier Garrapiz (G) def. (7) Alexandre Lacroix, 6-4, 7-6 (5); 2. (75) Nate Schnugg (G) def. (110) Joey Burkhardt, 7-5, 6-4; 3. Jamie Hunt (G) led Antoine Benneteau (F), 3-6, 6-1, 4-0 DNF; 4. (115) Drake Bernstein (G) def. Bob Van Overbeek, 1-6, 6-1, 6-2; 5. Sekou Bangoura Jr. (F) def. Christian Vitulli, 6-3, 6-4; 6. Nassim Slilam (F) def. Will Reynolds, 6-4, 6-0. Order of finish: 6, 4, 5, 2, 1.
Records: Florida 21-5, Georgia 20-8.
Other Round of 16 scores
(5) Southern California 4, (12) Kentucky 0
(4) Ohio State 4, Wisconsin 0
(1) Virginia 4, (16) Duke 0
(9) UCLA 4, (8) Stanford 2
(7) Baylor 4, (10) Texas A&M 1
(2) Tennessee 4, (15) Louisville 0
Oklahoma 4, (3) Texas 2
QUARTERFINALS / Sunday, May 23
(4) Ohio State (35-1) vs. (5) Southern California (22-3), 1 p.m.
(1) Virginia (38-1) vs. (9) UCLA (17-6), 2 p.m.
(7) Baylor (24-6) vs. (2) Tennessee (29-1), 4 p.m.
(11) Georgia (20-7) vs. Oklahoma (19-7), 5 p.m.
SEMIFINALS / Monday, May 24
Virginia-UCLA winner vs. Ohio State-Southern California, 4 p.m.
Georgia-Oklahoma winner vs. Baylor-Tennessee winner, 5 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP / Tuesday, May 25
Semifinal winners, 6 p.m. (ESPNU)