Tide Tennis Falls at Home to No. 8 Gators
3/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
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The University of Alabama tennis team lost its second match on the weekend Sunday afternoon to No. 8 Florida, 5-2.
Florida’s deep line-up was too much for the Crimson Tide and Gators defeated Alabama (7-10, 0-5) for the fifth consecutive meeting.
The Tide’s Joseph Jung did pull off an upset at No. 2 singles to defeat a ranked player for the first time this season. Jung defeated No. 89 Valdimir Obradovic in straight sets, but he had to claw his way back in the second set. Jung trailed 5-2 in the second set before battling back to claim the victory in a tiebreaker. He’s now 1-3 vs. nationally ranked opponents this spring.
Eric Molnar also claimed victory on Sunday. Molnar won the final two sets of his match to earn the come-from-behind win over Nestor Briceno.
“Eric and Joseph showed a lot of fight and pride in coming back and beating good opponents today,” head coach Billy Pate said. “Eric played as well as he’s played all year. If he plays that well the rest of the year then he’ll be a key player for us.”
Alabama didn’t get off to a bad start Sunday. RJ Murray and Jung won at No. 2 doubles to give the Tide a chance to win the doubles point and take the early lead. However, No. 12 Hamid Mirzadeh and Greg Ouellette held off the Tide’s Luigi D’Agord and Eric Molnar to win the doubles point for the Gators.
“Doubles once again set the tone for us today,” Pate said. “We had opportunities but I give Florida credit for breaking us at No. 1 doubles. “We played well enough to win but we’re just not capitalizing on our chances.”
Alabama will not begin a four-match road swing beginning next Friday at Vanderbilt. All five of the Tide’s remaining SEC matches will be on the road.
Tennis Match Results
Florida vs Alabama
Mar 27, 2005 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
#8 Florida 5, #62 Alabama 2
Singles competition:
1. #58 Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) def. #99 Luigi D'Agord (BAMA) 6-3, 6-2
2. Joseph Jung (BAMA) def. #89 Vladimir Obradovic (UF) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4)
3. #32 Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Javier Bes (BAMA) 6-1, 6-2
4. Eric Molnar (BAMA) def. Nestor Briceno (UF) 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-0
5. #71 Chris Brandi (UF) def. Billy Mertz (BAMA) 6-1, 6-3
6. Jordan Dolberg (UF) def. RJ Murray (BAMA) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. #12 Hamid Mirzadeh/Greg Ouellette (UF) def. Luigi D'Agord/Eric Molnar (BAMA) 9-7
2. Joseph Jung/RJ Murray (BAMA) def. Chris Brandi/Vladimir Obradovic (UF) 8-6
3. Ryan Sherry/Jordan Dolberg (UF) def. Billy Mertz/Jordie Kindervater (BAMA) 8-6
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (3,2,1); Singles (1,3,5,6,2,4)
