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The Gators made easy work of Furman University on Friday as they
earned a 7-0 victory in their season opener at Linder Stadium.
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Between doubles and singles action, the No. 9 Gators went 9-0
against the unranked Paladins.
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Sophomores Billy Federhofer and Bob van Overbeek started the day
with an impressive 8-0 win against Andrei Chvestsov and Tyler
Droll.
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UF’s No. 11 duo of Alexandre Lacroix and Nassim Slilam followed up
with an 8-3 win against Sawyer Duncan and Andrew Mellow.
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Sekou Bangoura Jr. and Andrew Butz completed the sweep with an easy
8-1 win against Alex Christ and Joel Cook.
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Despite the talent gap between the two teams, the Gators did not
underestimate their opponent, coach Andy Jackson said.
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“They really had respect for their opponent and even though we knew
were gonna be stronger, we were prepared to play and played well,”
he said. “We did a good job of being professional about playing
well even with a stronger team.”
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The Gators’ dominance continued in singles action as four players
posted a 6-0 first set win.
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Every player earned a straight set victory except for Lacroix, who
showed some resilience against Duncan.
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After jumping out to a 5-1 lead in the third set, Duncan battled
back to make the score 5-4 before Lacroix earned five straight
points to emerge victorious.
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think it’s better for him to have gone through something like that
where he did have to work and have some pressure on him,” Jackson
said.
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The Gators will resume action on Sunday when they take on No.7
Baylor.
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Although the Bears have a more experienced squad with three seniors
and three juniors, Jackson believes his team has a good shot at a
victory.
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“We’re excited to play Baylor because we know they’re always in the
hunt to win a national championship,” Jackson said.
