Gator named SEC player of the year

Senior Greg Ouellete was named the 2008 SEC Men's Tennis Player of the Year during an awards ceremony Wednesday night.

It is the first time a player has received the honor during the seven-year tenure of coach Andy Jackson. He joins Mark Merklein (1994), Jeff Morrison (1999) and Justin O’Neal (2000), the three previous Gator
winners of the honor.

Ouellette is currently ranked No. 2 in the nation in the ITA singles poll and has defeated 16 ranked opponents this season.

Jesse Levine Named Rookie of the Year

GAINESVILLE - Freshman Jesse Levine was named the National Rookie of the Year by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Tuesday during a ceremony at the University of Georgia's Rankin M. Smith Student-Athlete Center.

Levine is the second ITA National Rookie of the Year the Gators have had under sixth-year head coach Andy Jackson. In 2003, Janne Holmia earned the honor.

This season, Levine has had one of the best seasons for a freshman in recent history. At No. 3 in the Fila singles and doubles rankings, he opened his collegiate career with a 21-match winning streak. On Wednesday, he and junior Greg Ouellette will represent the Gators in the NCAA singles draw. The two will combine their efforts in the NCAA doubles draw, which begins Thursday in Athens.

Levine is the first player since Fresno State’s Peter Luczak in 2001 to be undefeated entering the singles competition. That year, Luczak was 27-0 before losing in the first round. Levine's 21-0 record on the No. 1 singles court this year includes an 11-0 mark against Southeastern Conference opponents and a 16-0 record against ranked opponents. Nineteen of Levine's 21 wins have come in straight sets. In doubles play, he and Ouellette are 18-2 on the top court and 8-1 against ranked foes.

Men's Tennis Rallies For Win Over FSU

Heading into this weekend's NCAA tennis championships, UF coach Andy Jackson's biggest concern was that his Gators would be so pumped up about a potential mathcup against Florida State that the would overlook first round opponent Georgia Tech.

On Saturday, the Gators got that coveted matchup and it was all they had anticipated with a result they had hoped for.

Trailing 3-0, the No. 19 Florida men earned wins on each of the remaining to courts to rally to a 4-3 victory over No. 16 Florida State in the NCAA championships second round Saturday in Tallahassee.

The win marked the third time in the last five years that UF (15-7) ended FSU's (17-10) run in the NCAA tournament. With the victory, UF advanced to the final site of the NCAA Championship for the sixth-straight season and the 14th time in the last 17 years.

"We fought hard and so did they," said UF head coach Andy Jackson. "We barely got this one today and it could have gone either way. Now we are on to Athens for the Round of 16. Honestly, when we feel behind 3-0, I knew we were still in it. I thought if we kept our nerve and kept pushing, good things might happen. We've been in the same situation a few times this season, but this is by far the biggest."

The match came down to the No. 5 court between UF's Jordan Dolberg and FSU's Maciek Sykut. Dolberg dropped the first set, 4-6, before coming back to take the next two 6-3, 6-2, to clinch the team victory.

"It is what you play for," Dolberg said. "I knew it was coming down to me and I was confident that if I kept fighting we'd get the victory. We are riding high right now and the team is excited. We're ready to go to

UF to meet South Florida in NCAA Championships

GAINESVILLE - With its 4-0 win over Jacksonville University Saturday morning, the No. 4 women's tennis team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championships and will face South Florida Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Bulls defeated Florida International 4-3 on Saturday for the right to advance.

Florida lost a combined one point in the opening game on all three doubles courts, taking the first win of the dual match with an 8-0 decision at the No. 3 spot, where Megan Alexander and Anastasia Revzina needed just 36 minutes to defeat Fernanda Carrero and Cristina Paiva-Flor. The Gators’ No. 1 duo of Csilla Borsanyi and Diana Srebrovic then provided the clinching doubles-point win with their 8-2 victory over Emese Sulyos and Lena Willi. Florida held double-match point on court No. 2, leading 7-2, when play was abandoned once the Gators secured the doubles point for the 18th time this season.

“I thought our doubles was very good today,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We had good focus and communication between all three teams. Doubles is always tricky after a long layoff, but I was very pleased today that we were able to play good doubles.”

Florida is 46-1 all-time against USF, including a 25-0 record in matches played in Gainesville.
The last meeting between the two programs was a 4-0 win in the second round of last year’s NCAA Championships, which was the first postseason match-up featuring the two schools.  The Bulls lone win in the series was a 5-3 decision on April 1, 1986. Since that loss, Florida has won 21 straight against USF.

Wesley Chapel's Hamui signs with Florida

GAINESVILLE - Wesley Chapel native Johnny Hamui has signed a letter of intent to play tennis for Florida.

"Johnny is clearly one of the top recruits in the nation and we could not be more excited for him to be a Gator," UF coach Andy Jackson. "Frankly, we are very thrilled about all the prospects for next year. However, our focus right now is to finish this year very strong."

Hamui, who attends Saddlebrook Prep School, recently advanced to the finals of the 2007 Easter Bowl in Rancho Mirage, Calif., where he was defeated by Rhyne Williams (6-4, 6-2) in the boys under-18 singles
division. The final, was a rematch of the round of 16 encounter at the 2006 Easter Bowl, won by Hamui in three sets.

By virtue of his appearance in the finals of the Easter Bowl, Hamui will also compete in the main draw of the junior events at the French Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open. He is currently ranked No. 26 in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Rankings.

Women's Tennis to Host Regional; Men Will Travel To Tallahassee

GAINESVILLE - The fourth-ranked women's tennis team will host a first and second round regional next weekend, while the men's team will travel to Tallahassee for its regional.

Florida (21-2) will play Jacksonville University (19-3) on Saturday, May 12, at 1o a.m. at the Ring Stadium in the Linder Tennis Complex. USF (15-7) will play Florida International (19-4) at 1 p.m. The winners will play at 1 p.m. Sunday in the second round.

Florida has hosted first and second round matches every year since the women's championships expanded its field to 64 in 1999.

"The state of Florida has always been a hot-bed for tennis and we will get to showcase a lot of that talent in the four teams that will be competing in Gainesville for the NCAA First and Second Rounds,'' UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "It is always an honor to be selected to host the opening rounds and is something we take very seriously. I expect to see three extremely competitive matches during the weekend and I hope our fans will come out and appreciate the high level of tennis. We will need to be at the top of our game to advance.''

Meanwhile the No. 19 Gator men (13-7) will travel to Tallahassee and will play Georgia Tech (7-15) at 1 p.m. on May 11. The winner will play either No. 16 FSU (16-9) or Manhattan (12-6) in the second round on Saturday, May 12.

Georgia Halts SEC Title Hopes

Florida and Georgia finished in a tie during the regular season, forcing a share of the conference regular season women's tennis title.

The Bulldogs will get the SEC tournament trophy all to themselves.

Top-seeded Georgia ended No. 2 seed Florida's five-year reign as the SEC tournament champions with a 4-2 victory Sunday afternoon in Lexington.

Florida (21-2) took control early during the doubles competition, but Georgia (21-1) rallied and earned the doubles point, then won singles at the No. 1, 4 and 5 positions to earn its fourth conference touranment title, its first since 2001.

The Gators, making their 19th appearance in the finals in the 20-year history of the tournament, lost in the title game for just the fifth time.

"Doubles was a huge part of today's match, but I challenged our players after the doubles point to come back and play like we had won the doubles point and I don't think we did that on all the singles courts and that cost us today,'' UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Not all six of our players were able to put the doubles loss behind them.

Florida's only two losses of the season have come against Georgia.

"I have to congratulate

Georgia

,'' he added. "They showed they were tougher today. They had a little bit more than we did. They have a heck of a team.''

The Gators will now await the NCAA selection show on May 1, at 2:30 p.m., where the 64-team field will be announced. The show will be broadcast on ESPNews, which will include the 16 host sites and he dates for the first and second rounds will be played.

Thornqvist to Women's Tennis Team: Enjoy Being the Champions

GAINESVILLE - When the Florida women's tennis team won its second consecutive regular season title last weekend (they tied with Georgia for a share of the title), most fans may have uttered a collective ho-hum, what's new?

Afterall, the Gators have won 22 of the league's 28 regular season titles.

But winning SEC championships isn't easy. And head coach Roland Thornqvist makes it a point to remind his players how much they've accomplished.

Does he insist they celebrate?

"No question, I think you have to,'' Thornqvist said. "For us, we started this journey Aug. 24 so we've been going after this, talking about this and trying to get better for eight months. And so, when we finally win it, you have to have some sort of release. I really believe that. And they have to be able to celebrate. No question, you have to. . . . At the conclusion of the regular season, that's definitely something you have to celebrate in my opinion. I think that's very important.''

Florida (19-1, 10-1 SEC) will play LSU Friday at 10 a.m. in the second round of the SEC tournament. The Tigers defeated Mississippi 4-0 today. The Gators have advanced to the SEC tournament championship game 18 times in the 19-year history of the event, and have won 15 of the 19 titles.

But Thornqvist said winning No. 16 will be a challenge this weekend.

"LSU is a very tough opponent,'' he said. "But certainly we're going to be ready for the weekend and we've got a chance to do well. That's all you can ask going into it.''

Suvak SEC Player of the Week

GAINESVILLE - Senior Nina Suvak was named the SEC women's tennis athlete of the week on Monday, sharing the honor with Georgia's Natalie Frazier.

In singles and doubles competition, Suvak posted a 4-0 record last week, helping the Gators earn a share of the SEC regular season title. She lost a combined total of just seven games in two singles wins last week. Along with Whitney Benik, she provided the clinching doubles point in both matches.

Her 6-3, 6-0 win over South Carolina's Megan McGavock was the 100th singles win of her career, only the sixth UF player to win 100 singles and 100 doubles matches.

She is 111-36 at UF, sixth on the all-time list.