State Netmen Drop 6-1 Decision To Seventh-Ranked Florida
Florida won all three matches in doubles play to open the afternoon.Gators Chris Brandi and Greg Ouellette took out MSU's tandem of Ryan Farlowand Eric Lim 8-0 at the #3 position. Florida then clinched the first pointof the match when the duo of Janne Holmia and Vladimir Obradovic beat theBulldog pair of Philippe Frassinoux and Pierre Mouillon 8-1 at the #2position. At the #1 position, Florida's duo of Nestor Briceno and StefanTell beat the Bulldog tandem of Ivan Bjelica and Jose-Carlos Pinto in atiebreaker 8-7(2).
Florida waisted no time in expanding their lead when singles play began.The Gators jumped up 2-0 when Florida's Tell won 6-0, 6-1 over State's RyanFarlow at the #5 spot. The gators stretched their lead to 3-0 when Florida'sObradovic took a 6-2, 6-1 victory over MSU's Philippe Frayssinoux at the #2position. The Gators clinched the match at the #6 spot when MSU's Lim fellto Gator Ryan Sherry 6-2, 6-1 in Lim's first dual match of his MSU career.MSU's Mouillon gave State its lone point of the match, knocking offFlorida's Chris Brandi 6-4, 6-4 at the #4 spot. At the #3 position,Jose-Carlos Pinto fell in a super tiebreaker to Florida's 38th-rankedBriceno by a score of 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(6). MSU's Bjelica fell in the finalmatch of the day to Florida's Holmia in two tiebreakers 7-6(3), 7-6(4).
State fell to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in the SEC with the loss. MSU's nextaction will be March 10 when the Bulldogs host Auburn at 2 p.m. at the A.J.Pitts Tennis Centre on the MSU campus. State will conclude their homestandon March 12 when the Bulldogs host Alabama in a match slated for 1 p.m.
#7 Florida 6, #27 Mississippi State 1
Doubles - Nestor Briceno/Stefan Tell (UF) def. Ivan Bjelica/Jose-CarlosPinto (MSU) 8-7(2); Janne Holmia/Vladimir Obradovic (UF) def. PhilippeFrayssinoux/Pierre Mouillon (MSU) 8-1; Chris Brandi/Greg Ouellette (UF) def.Ryan Farlow/Eric Lim (MSU) 8-0.
Singles - Holmia (UF) def. Bjelica (MSU) 7-6(3), 7-6(4); Obradovic (UF) def.Frayssinoux (MSU)6-2, 6-1; Briceno (UF) def. Pinto (MSU) 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(6);Mouillon (MSU) def. Brandi (UF) 6-4, 6-4; Tell (UF) def. Farlow (MSU) 6-0,6-1; Ryan Sherry (UF) def. Lim (MSU) 6-2, 6-1.