Texas A&M
Florida
No. 7 Florida Hands No. 15 Aggies 6-1 Loss On The Road
Jan 31, 2009 | Men's Tennis
Jan. 31, 2009
GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 15-ranked and second-seeded Texas A&M men's tennis team fell 6-1 to No. 7 and top-seeded Florida in the second round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend held Saturday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
Sophomore All-American Austin Krajicek (Brandon, Fla.) was the only Aggie player to pick up a match point versus the undefeated Gators (4-0). Krajicek, ranked No. 46 nationally in the latest ITA rankings, defeated Florida's Antoine Benneteau in a third-set super tiebreaker, 7-6 (2), 5-7, 1-0 (10-4), on court three. He went 4-0 over the weekend in his home state with two wins each in singles and doubles.
"Austin was our most aggressive player overall today," Texas A&M head coach Steve Denton said. "He ended up winning his match, because of his aggressiveness. The major difference was his ability to attack his player and to finish at the net."
Krajicek and senior All-American Conor Pollock (San Antonio, Texas) posted their second win in two days at No. 1 doubles against the Florida duo of Antoine Benneteau and Joey Burkhardt, 8-4. They beat the top doubles combination from North Carolina State in the opening round on Friday.
"Basically, Florida came out to play against us today," Denton said. "They played well in doubles, with the exception of Conor and Austin, and took it to us in singles. We felt good coming into the match that we had a chance, but Florida won the first five out of six first sets. Give credit to Florida. They are a very good team that executed better than we did today, and as a result, they won the match."
With the victory, the Gators advanced to play in the upcoming 35th ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Illinois on February 13-16 at the Midtown Tennis Club in Chicago.
Up next, the Aggies will face their second-straight top 10 opponent with No. 2 Texas (3-0) for state bragging rights to the coveted Texas Cup on Friday, Feb. 6 in Houston, Texas. First serve between A&M and its archrival in non-conference action is set for 6 p.m. (CT).
(7) FLORIDA 6, (15) TEXAS A&M 1
January 31, 2009
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
at Gainesville, Fla.
SINGLES
No. 1 - (87) Carlos Cueto (Florida) def. (12) Conor Pollock (Texas A&M), 6-3, 6-3.
No. 2 - Alex Lacroix (Florida) def. (8) Wil Spencer (Texas A&M), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).
No. 3 - (46) Austin Krajicek (Texas A&M) def. Antoine Benneteau (Florida), 7-6 (2), 5-7, 1-0 (10-4).
No. 4 - (63) Joey Burkhardt (Florida) def. Marcus Lunt (Texas A&M), 6-4, 6-1.
No. 5 - Johnny Hamui (Florida) def. Kayvon Karimi (Texas A&M), 6-1, 6-2.
No. 6 - Jeff Dadamo (Florida) def. Colin Hoover (Texas A&M), 6-4, 6-3.
DOUBLES
No. 1 - (34) Krajicek-Pollock (Texas A&M) def. Benneteau-Burkhardt (Florida), 8-4.
No. 2 - Dadamo-Hamui (Florida) def. Lunt-Spencer (Texas A&M), 8-1.
No. 3 - Lacroix-Cueto (Florida) def. Hoover-Klores (Texas A&M), 8-3.
ORDER OF FINISH
Doubles: 2, 3, 1
Singles: 5, 6, 4*, 1, 2, 3
Players Mentioned
