The
11th-ranked Florida men’s tennis team ended a three-match losing streak with a
win on Sunday, beating No. 14 Ole Miss, 5-2, at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis
Center in Oxford, Miss. The Gators improved to 10-7 overall and 3-3 in the
Southeastern Conference.
Florida
earned the doubles point with victories at No. 1 and 3 over Ole Miss (8-5, 4-2
SEC). The Rebels’ 33rd-ranked duo of Nik Scholtz and Jonas Lutjen beat Tripper
Carleton and Michael Alford on court two, 8-3, but Florida’s Spencer
Newman and Bob van Overbeek picked up a win against Johan Backstrom
and William Kallberg, 8-5, on court three. UF’s eighth-ranked pair of Billy
Federhofer and Nassim Slilam secured the doubles point with an 8-4
win over No. 12 Marcel Thiemann and Chris Thiemann.
The
Gators got an early boost in singles when No. 61 van Overbeek upset No. 13
Scholtz, 7-5, 6-3, at the top position. Van Overbeek’s win ended a six-match
losing streak, facing four top 15-ranked opponents during that span. Carleton,
who dropped the first set to No. 35 Lutjen, fought back for a three-set win,
3-6, 6-3, 6-1, to push Florida’s lead to 3-0 in the match.
Kallberg
got Ole Miss on the board with a 6-0, 4-6, 6-4 win over Newman at No. 4
singles. Alford clinched the team victory with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 win over Chris
Thiemann on court five.
The
teams split the remaining two matches on courts two and six. Florida’s Andrew
Butz won on court six over Backstrom, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4, and the Rebels’ Marcel
Thiemann beat Slilam, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, at the No. 2 position.
