University of Florida men’s tennis senior Alexandre Lacroix (Paris, France) and sophomore Sekou Bangoura Jr. (Bradenton, Fla.) fell short in their respective quarterfinal matches at the SEC Indoor Championships at the Goodfriend Indoor Tennis Center on the University of Tennessee campus in Knoxville, Tenn., on Sunday.
Following hard-fought three-set wins for each in the Round of 16 on Saturday, the two Gator players were unable to battle through the quarterfinals. Georgia’s Wil Spencer downed Lacroix before advancing into the final, where he will face Kentucky’s Eric Quigley, the current No 2 player in the nation and the tournament’s top seed. Bangoura was topped by Tennessee’s John-Patrick Smith, who spent much of the 2010 season as the nation’s No. 1-rated singles player.
Later in the day, Lacroix and junior Nassim Slilam (Paris, France) came up short in the doubles semifinals, 8-6, against the Volunteers’ duo of Smith and Boris Conkic. That UT pair will face Georgia’s Javier Garrapiz and Hernus Pieters in the doubles final.
No. 9 Florida now turns its attention to the dual match season, which kicks off this Friday, Jan. 21, at 3 p.m. in Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex, when the Gators host Furman. The Gators’ opening weekend also includes a Sunday showdown at noon against No. 7 Baylor. Admission to all regular season home matches is free.
2011 SEC Indoor Championships
Goodfriend Indoor Tennis Center
Knoxville, Tenn.
Jan. 14-17, 2011
Sunday Results (UF Only)
Singles Quarterfinals
(21) John-Patrick Smith (Tennessee) def. (28) Sekou Bangoura Jr. (UF) – 6-2, 6-1
(53) Wil Spencer (Georgia) def. (4) Alexandre Lacroix (UF) – 6-1, 6-3
Doubles Semifinals
Conkic/Smith (Tennessee) def. (11) Lacroix/Slilam (UF) – 8-6
Singles Consolation Round of 16
(38) Matteo Fago (Tennessee) def. Billy Federhofer (UF) 6-7, 6-3, 1-0
