The next time Tim Smith and the Marist College men’s tennis team come to Florida’s Linder Stadium, they might want to stay a little longer – like during winter when it’s cold and snowing in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., their hometown.
It makes no sense for the Red Foxes, champions of the Mid Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), to have to fly to Gainesville in May and spend a little more than 90 minutes on the court to lose 4-0 to the No. 10 Gators.
It’s a good thing Smith has a good sense of humor because the NCAA did his team no favors.
“I was a little concerned when my assistant coach (Dr. Elliot Sussin) read me one of Aesop’s Fables … about a red fox that goes for a ride on an alligator’s back but when the gator gets to the middle of the river, he eats the fox,” Smith said. “I did not think that was a good omen.”
The Marist men’s tennis program is a good one – the Red Foxes went 12-4—but certainly not in Florida’s league. The Gators moved to 18-8 and all the losses have been against ranked teams.
“We’ve been to the tournament seven times now,” Smith said, “but we always seem to draw SEC teams. I’m hoping to draw a northern school one year. Playing a team of Florida’s caliber with an outstanding coach (Andy Jackson) who has been to the Round of 16 each of the last seven years and a team that doesn’t lose much on its home court, we hoped to come down and compete with class. I think we did that and gave the crowd their money’s worth. Florida’s hospitality was great for us and we hope to be back again.”
But not during the NCAA tournament, of course. The problem, of course, is that most of the top-notch teams are south of the Mason-Dixon Line. Only Big Ten powers Ohio State (No. 3) and Illinois (No. 13) were hosts of first- and second-round regionals. Marist and Columbia University (which lost the other first-round match to No. 22 Miami, Fla., by a similar 4-0 score) were the only tennis teams from the Northeast (New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware) to receive bids among the 64 teams.
So it wasn’t surprising that the Gators needed just 27 minutes to record the doubles point. One minute after the No. 2 doubles team of Jeff Dadamo and Johnny Hamui finished off Marist’s Matt Himmelsbach and Loic Sessagesimi, 8-0, Florida’s top doubles team of Antoine Benneteau and Joey Burkhardt – the 16th-ranked team in the nation – scored an 8-1 victory over Christian Coley and Rhys Hobbs, which ended the No. 3 doubles match that Carlos Cueto and Alex Lacroix were leading 7-0 over their Marist foes, Landon Green and Nicolas Pisecky.
“I’m happy the way things went,” Jackson said. “We played hard and took care of our business. It was a lot harder than it looked, and tomorrow (Saturday) will be a completely different match (when the Gators play Miami).”
It took 61 minutes for Florida to finish off the match with three singles victory. Freshman Cueto, ranked No. 23 in the nation, needed 55 minutes to beat Coley at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-0.
“I think everyone was nervous,” said Cueto, a native of Spain. “It was the first NCAA match for many of us. I think we have a lot of confidence. This is what you train for all year. You have to be careful that your nerves don’t make you play bad.”
Then sophomore Dadamo took one hour and one minute to beat Himmelsbach, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 6 singles to give Florida a 3-0 lead.
Shortly afterward, Benneteau, a redshirt junior from France, beat Pisecky 6-0, 6-0 to clinch the victory and suspend the other three singles matches. Sophomore Lacroix, ranked No. 33, was a game away from defeating Sessagesimi, leading 6-0, 5-2 at No. 2 singles. Freshman Burkhardt was two games away from beating Marcus von Nordheim, leading 6-1, 4-3 at No. 4 singles.
Only Florida sophomore Hamui and Greene were locked in a tight match at No. 5 singles, the Gator having just won the first set in a tiebreaker when the match was suspended.
Jackson, who has never failed to get the Gators to the Round of 16, knows that today’s 4 p.m. second-round match with No. 22 Miami will be difficult. The Gators earned a 5-2 victory back on Feb. 22 in Gainesville, but that victory was earned when Miami coach Mario Rincon’s top player, Daniel Vallverdu was coming back from an injury. The No. 13 singles player in the country did not play singles that day, but he did pair with Carl Sundberg at No. 1 doubles but were defeated 8-2 by Benneteau and Burkhardt. Now Vallverdu is paired with David Rosengeld and they are ranked No. 38 in the nation.
“This match will be completely different,” Jackson said. “If Vallverdu had played the whole year, they would not be ranked No. 22. I’m looking at this match as one between two Top 10 teams.”
Which means that Florida had better pack its lunch pail.
NCAA MEN’S TENNIS TOURNAMENT
FIRST ROUND
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex, Gainesville, Fla.
No. 10 FLORIDA 4, MARIST 0
DOUBLES
1. Antoine Benneteau-Joey Burkhardt (UF) def, Christian Coley-Rhys Hobbs, 8-1.
2. Jeff Dadamo-Johnny Hamui (UF) def. Matt Himmelsbach-Loic Sessagesimi, 8-0.
3. Carlos Cueto-Alex Lacroix (UF) led Landon Green-Nicolas Pisecky, 7-0, DNF.
Florida wins doubles point, 2-0.
SINGLES
1. Carlos Cueto (UF) def. Christian Coley, 6-1, 6-0.
2. Alex Lacroix (UF) led Loic Sessagesimi, 6-0, 5-2, DNF.
3. Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Nicolas Pisecky, 6-0, 6-0.
4. Joey Burkhardt (UF) led Marcus von Nordheim, 6-1, 4-3, DNF.
5. Johnny Hamui (UF) led Landon Greene, 7-6 (4), DNF.
6. Jeff Dadamo (UF) def. Matt Himmelsbach, 6-1, 6-3.
Records: Florida 18-8; Marist 12-4.
Order of finish: Doubles – 1, 2 (clinch); Singles – 1, 6, 3 (clinch).
No. 22 MIAMI, FLA. 4, No. 53 COLUMBIA 0
DOUBLES
1. (38) Daniel Vallverdu-David Rosengeld (UM) def. Bogdan Borta-Mihai Nichifor, 8-3.
2. Jonathan Wong-Haig Schneiderman (CU) def. David Simon-Christian Blocker, 8-1.
3. Carl Sundberg-Keith Crowley (UM) def. Dan Urban-Rajeev Deb-Sen, 8-4.
Miami wins doubles point, 2-1.
SINGLES
1. (13) Daniel Vallverdu (UM) led Jonathan Wong, 6-3, 3-3, DNF.
2. David Rosenfeld (UM) def. Bogdan Borta, 6-4, retired.
3. Mihai Nichifor (CU) led Carl Sundberg, 6-3, 5-4, DNF.
4. Keith Crowley (UM) def. Ekin Sezgen, 6-3, 6-1.
5. Christian Blocker (UM) def. Haig Schneiderman, 6-4, 5-2, DNF.
6. Ignacio Taboada (UM) def. Rajeev Deb-Sen, 6-1, 6-4.
Records: Miami, Fla. 15-8, Columbia 16-6.
Order of finish: Doubles – 1, 2, 3 (clinch); Singles – 2, 4, 6 (clinch).