After a brief ceremony honored his career at Florida, Nassim Slilam took the court in doubles for the final time. The result probably wasn’t how the senior envisioned it.
Slilam and partner Billy Federhofer dropped their doubles match 9-8 to their South Carolina opponents, and the Gators went on to lose the doubles point to the Gamecocks. Despite the rocky start, Slilam did not let his senior day go to waste.
Instead, he led No. 10 Florida (14-8, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) to a 6-1 win over South Carolina in which the team swept all six singles matches. Despite the loss in doubles, Slilam was very happy with his final regular season match at Linder Stadium.
“It was tough. We lost the doubles point, and me and Billy played pretty good but we lost 9-8,” he said. “It wasn't a great start to my senior day. But I played great in singles so it turned out very good.”
Coach Andy Jackson had high praise for Slilam after the match, but emphasized that the final portion of the season is the most important and the part his senior will remember the most.
“It's just two-thirds finished, because the third that's the most important is going to be the NCAA Tournament,” Jackson said. “He's winning lots of singles and doubles, and he's had a fantastic career, but I'm hopeful that he has a chance to do something special in the tournaments coming up, which is basically his senior year. You're going to remember the SECs and NCAA tournament.”
With the regular season now in the books, the Gators will turn their focus to the SEC tournament. They will likely have a No. 3 seed, sharing a 7-4 record but having won the head-to-head with Ole Miss. The tournament begins next week at Mississippi State.
In Columbia, S.C., the No. 2 women’s team had their day begin with a shock. For just the second time this spring, Florida (18-1, 11-0 SEC) lost the doubles point. Like their male counterparts, however, the Gators came back to win the match 4-1. It was the second losses of the year for the doubles teams of Allie Will and Sofie Oyen, and Olivia Janowicz and Caroline Hitimana.
However, the Gamecocks provided little resistance in singles, as four Gators won singles matches before play was suspended. Florida will have the top seed in next week’s SEC tournament, to be held at Ole Miss.
