LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 2 Tennessee won two of the three doubles matches to get started on its way to a 4-0 victory over No. 6 Florida in the championship match of the Southeastern Conference Men’s Tournament Sunday at the University of Kentucky’s Boone Tennis Complex.
The Volunteers (26-1) just had too much firepower for coach Andy Jackson’s Gators, who showed some moxie but not enough to pull the upset.
Florida’s No. 3 doubles team of Daniel Cash and Bob Van Overbeek beat Tennessee’s Matteo Fago and Edward Jones, 8-6, to even the doubles competition at 1-1. The nation’s top-ranked (by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association) doubles team of John-Patrick Smith and Davey Sandgren beat Florida’s No. 14 duo of Antoine Benneteau and Alexandre Lacroix, 8-3, to start things off for the Vols.
Then the No. 8 doubles team of Boris Conkic and Rhyne Williams beat Florida’s No. 51 team of Joey Burkhardt and Sekou Bangoura Jr., 8-5, to win the doubles point for Tennessee, 2-1.
Fago made it 2-0 Tennessee with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Nassim Slilam at No. 5 singles. Smith, the No. 1 singles player according to the ITA, then scored a 6-2, 6-1 victory over No. 5 Lacroix at No. 1 singles for a 3-0 lead.
The Volunteers clinched the match when No. 37 Conkic beat No. 113 Burkhardt, 6-0, 6-2. The other singles matches at Nos. 3, 4 and 6 were abandoned.
Freshman Van Overbeek, however, showed his toughness when he outdueled No. 114 Tennys Sandgren for the first set at No. 4 singles. With their match knotted a 6-6 in the first set, Van Overbeek eventually prevailed in the tiebreaker, 16-14. Each player had won a game in the second set when Tennessee clinched the match.
At No. 6 singles, Davey Sandgren and Bangoura each had won a set when their match was suspended. In the No. 3 singles match, Tennessee’s Williams had a 6-4 first-set victory against Benneteau, who was leading in the second set, 4-1, when play was halted.
SEC MEN’S TENNIS TOURNAMENT / CHAMPIONSHIP
At Boone Tennis Complex, Lexington, Ky.
No. 2 TENNESSEE 4, No. 6 FLORIDA 0
DOUBLES
1. (4) John Patrick Smith-Davey Sandgren (T) def. (14) Antoine Benneteau-Alexandre Lacroix, 8-3; 2. (8) Boris Conkic-Rhyne Williams (T) def. (51) Joey Burkhardt-Sekou Bangoura Jr., 8-5; 3. Daniel Cash-Bob Van Overbeek (F) def. Matteo Fago-Edward Jones, 8-6. Order of finish: 1, 3, 2. Tennessee wins doubles point, 2-1.
SINGLES
1. (1) John-Patrick Smith (T) def. (5) Alexandre Lacroix, 6-2, 6-1; 2. (37) Boris Conkic (T) def. (113) Joey Burkhardt, 6-0, 6-2; 3. (44) Rhyne Williams (T) vs. Antoine Benneteau (F), 6-4, 1-4, DNF; 4. Bob Van Overbeek (F) vs. (114) Tennys Sandgren (T), 7-6 (14), 1-1, DNF; 5. Matteo Fago (T) def. Nassim Slilam, 6-3, 6-1; 6. Sekou Bangoura Jr. (F) vs. Davey Sandgren (T), 2-6, 6-1, DNF. Order of finish: 5, 1, 2.
Records: Florida 19-4, Tennessee 26-1.