May 16, 2010
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 31 Auburn men's tennis team fell to the No. 6 Florida Gators, 4-0, in the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament Sunday in Gainesville, Fla. on the campus of the University of Florida.
The Tigers, who made their 11th-straight NCAA tournament appearance this year, concluded the 2009-10 season with a 12-13 mark in dual competition. The Gators improved to 21-4 overall.
"Florida got off to a good start with solid doubles play," head coach Eric Shore said. "We knew we had a good opportunity to do well in singles and we looked good in a handful of matches. We just couldn't capitalize where we needed to today."
The Gators recorded two-straight wins in doubles competition to earn the doubles team point, starting with a win at No. 2 doubles. The 68th-ranked team of Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Joey Burkhardt topped Auburn freshmen Tim Hewitt and Lucas Lopasso, 8-3.
The two teams saw a pair of top 10 doubles pairs compete at the No. 1 spot in Florida's eighth-ranked Antoine Benneteau and Alexandre Lacroix and Auburn's tenth-ranked Tim Puetz and Alex Stamchev. The Gator team utilized a handful of runs to secure the 8-3 victory.
Dan Cash and Bob Van Overbeek of Florida had a 7-4 lead over Auburn's Andreas Mies and Oliver Strecker at No. 3 doubles when play was called.
The Gators upped their lead to 2-0 with a win at No. 5 singles as Bangoura Jr. defeated Strecker in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1. Florida's Benneteau followed with a two-set win over Stamchev at No. 3 singles (6-3, 6-2) to give the Gators the three-point advantage.
Florida's Nassim Slilam secured the team win, giving the Gators their fourth and final team point. Slilam defeated Mies at No. 6 singles, 6-4, 6-3.
Three matches were still in competition when play was called. Auburn's Puetz, the 16th-ranked singles player took set one over Florida's No. 7 Lacroix, 7-5. The two were tied at five apiece in set two at the end of the match.
Auburn freshmen Hewitt and Lopasso each won their first sets as Hewitt topped No. 110 Burkhardt by a score of 6-3, while Lopasso won set one over Van Overbeek by the same score. Hewitt was down 6-5 in the second set and Lopasso was up 3-2 in the third at the conclusion of the day.
Despite the loss, the Tigers have a very bright future as the team was represented by a junior, a sophomore and four freshmen in today's competition.
"We had our battles this year, but this team has a lot of potential next year," Shore said. "They are ready to take that next step and will continue to be better down the line. There is a lot of promise on this team and we're excited for that."
Though the season is over, a pair of Tigers will continue play at the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. Puetz will compete in the singles tournament and will also pair up with Stamchev for doubles play. Competition runs May 26-31 in Athens, Ga., on the campus of the University of Georgia.
Against Florida - NCAA Regional Second Round
Singles
1. No. 16 Tim Puetz (Auburn) vs. No. 7 Alexandre Lacroix (Florida); 7-5, 5-5 unf.
2. Tim Hewitt (Auburn) vs. No. 110 Joey Burkhardt (Florida); 6-3, 5-6 unf.
3. Antoine Benneteau (Florida) def. No. 105 Alex Stamchev (Auburn); 6-3, 6-2
4. Lucas Lopasso (Auburn) vs. Bob Van Overbeek (Flordia); 6-3, 3-6, 3-2 unf.
5. Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Florida) def. Oliver Strecker (Auburn); 6-2, 6-1
6. Nassim Slilam (Florida) def. Andreas Mies (Auburn); 6-4, 6-3
Doubles
1. No. 8 Antoine Benneteau/Alex Lacroix (Florida) def. No. 10 Tim Puetz/Alex Stamchev (Auburn); 8-3
2. Sekou Bangoura Jr./Joey Burkhardt (Florida) def. Tim Hewitt/Lucas Lopasso (Auburn); 8-3
3. Dan Cash/Bob Van Overbeek (Florida) vs. Andreas Mies/Oliver Strecker (Auburn); 7-4 unf.
Match Notes
Auburn - 12-13; National Ranking #31
Florida - 21-4; National Ranking #6
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,3,6)