The
No. 11 Florida men’s tennis team lost for the first time this season on Friday in
the first round of the 2013 ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor
Championship. No. 5 Pepperdine proved to be too much for the Gators, beating
UF, 4-1, in Seattle, Wash. Florida will face No. 13 California on Saturday at
5:30 p.m. ET.
Pepperdine,
6-0 on the season, got on the scoreboard first after winning the doubles point.
The Waves got a win from the duo of Sebastian Fanselow and Alex Sarkissian on
court two over Mike Alford and Florent Diep, 8-5. Pepperdine clinched the point
with a win at No. 1 singles, as Finn Tearney and Francis Alcantara defeated
Billy Federhofer and Gordon Watson, 8-6.
The
Gators’ Stephane Piro and Bob van Overbeek won, 8-5, against the Waves’ Mousheg
Hovhannisyan and David Sofaer.
In
singles, Pepperdine extended its lead when Fanselow, the fourth-ranked player
in the nation, defeated van Overbeek, 6-2, 6-1, at No. 1 singles. Alcantara
made it 3-0 for the higher seed with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Watson at No. 4
singles. Alford got the Gators on the board with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Hovhannisyan
on court five. The Waves clinched the team victory with a win on court two from
Tearney over Diep, 6-3, 6-1.
The
remaining matches were halted on courts three and six after Pepperdine clinched
the victory. Piro led Sarkissian, 6-2, 2-1 at No. 3 singles, while Federhofer
dropped the first set, 6-2, but led in the second set, 4-1, on court six
against Sofaer.
