April 15, 2006

Gainesville, Fla. – South Carolina’s men’s tennis team had its four-match Southeastern Conference winning streak snapped on Saturday, falling, 7-0, to No. 14 Florida in its regular season finale in Gainesville, Fla. The loss dropped the Gamecocks to 13-13 overall, and 5-6 in SEC play, while the Gators improved to 14-6 on the year, with an 8-3 mark in the SEC. Carolina clinched the No. 7 seed in this week’s SEC Tournament, and will face 10th-seeded Tennessee in Thursday’s first round.

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UF took an early lead in the doubles point with an 8-1 win at No. 3 doubles, but Carolina fought back and leveled the point with Tom Eklund and Pedro Rodrigues’ 8-4 win over Vladimir Obradovich and Stefan Tell on court one. The Gators would clinch the point however, with an 8-5 win at No. 2 doubles.

<?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Florida then extended its lead to 2-0 with a win on court one in singles, but losing the point was not the primary concern of Carolina, as the loss came as a result of senior Tom Eklund being forced to retire with an injury in the second game of the second set. Down two points, the Gamecocks couldn’t rally, and lost the final five singles matches to UF.

Carolina’s loss to Florida also wraps up the No. 7 seed for the Gamecocks in this week’s SEC Tournament in Tuscaloosa, Ala, while the Gators clinched the No. 2 seed. The Gamecocks will face 10th-seeded Tennessee in the first round of the tournament on Thursday, with a quarterfinal rematch against Florida on the line. The Championships kick-off with the SEC awards banquet on Wednesday evening, April 19, and run through the conference title match on Sunday, April 23.

Results:

#35 South Carolina (13-13, 5-6 SEC) 0

#14 Florida (14-6, 8-3 SEC) 7

Doubles:

1. Tom Eklund/Pedro Rodrigues (SC) def. Vladimir Obradovich/Stefan Tell (F) 8-4
2. Chris Brandi/Greg Ouellette (F) def. Jaime Cuellar/Yevgeny Supeko (SC) 8-5
3. Nestor Briceno/Janne Holmia (F) def. Thomas Stoddard/Adam Adler (SC) 8-1

Singles:

1. #65 Vladimir Obradovich (F) def. Tom Eklund (SC) 6-1, 2-0(ret.)
2. #34 Greg Ouellette (F) def. Jaime Cuellar (SC) 6-3, 6-2
3. #38 Nestor Briceno (F) def. Pedro Rodrigues (SC) 6-3, 6-2
4. Stefan Tell (F) def. Yevgeny Supeko (SC) 7-6(4), 7-6(7)
5. Chris Brandi (F) def. Thomas Stoddard (SC) 6-0, 6-2
6. Ryan Sherry (F) def. Adam Adler (SC) 6-3, 6-1

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