LEXINGTON, Ky. – The sixth-ranked Florida men’s tennis team will face Mississippi State in the Southeastern Conference quarterfinals Friday at noon at the University of Kentucky’s Hillary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
The No. 2 seed Gators (17-3) had a first-round bye Thursday. The 10th-seeded Bulldogs (10-11) posted a 4-0 victory over seventh-seed Vanderbilt.
Florida and Mississippi State met in Gainesville on March 21, but inclement weather prevented the match from being finished. At the time that match was abandoned, Florida had won four singles first sets and Mississippi State had claimed one while the other was in a first-set tiebreaker.
The Gators are looking for their fourth SEC Tournament title since the event began in 1990 and their second under head coach Andy Jackson, who led Florida to the SEC Tournament and regular-season championship in 2005.
Florida had three players post a 9-1 singles record during the SEC regular season, including fifth-ranked junior Alexandre Lacroix and freshmen Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Bob Van Overbeek.
On the way to a 9-1 regular season SEC record, good for a second-place finish, Florida posted a head-to-head 47-13 singles record and a 20-10 doubles mark.