Hogs fall to Gators 7-0

FAYETTEVILLE– The University of Arkansas’ four-match winning streak came to end on Friday, as the Hogs dropped 7-0 to the 7th-ranked Florida team at the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center, in Fayetteville.

Florida came out strong earning the early advantage with victories at the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles positions. On the top court, No. 26 Chris Nott and Dmitry Lebedev battled hard against No.16 Sekou Bangoura and Antoine Bennetea in a close match but the Florida tandem outlasted the Hogs to win, 9-7.

The Gators momentum carried over into singles and the Hogs could not find the answer. Freshman Gregoire Lehmann dominated in the first against Nassim Slilam winning, 6-1. Slilam appeared to have lost control but found his composure in the second set to even the score and force a third set. Slilam defeated Lehmann and clinched the match for the Gators, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1. Arkansas dropped matches behind Taylor King, Dmitry Lebedev and Christopher Nott at No. 4, No. 3 and No. 1 singles, respectively.

The excitement of the match was around court 5, as Nikolas Zogaj and Sekou Bangaoura rallied in a tight final match of the day. Zogaj dropped the first set but was able to regain momentum to win the second set and force a tiebreaker. The duo continued to exchange the advantage with five match points, but Bangoura eventually pulled out the win in the tiebreaker, 16-14 extending the Gators lead to 7-0.

On Sunday, Arkansas will return to the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center to host No. 41 South Carolina at noon, in Fayetteville. Immediately following the doubles point free pizza and fruit trays will be available. For Complete results and live coverage visit ArkanasRazorbacks.com.

Complete Results

Arkansas 0 Florida 7

Singles

Order of Finish: 4, 3, 6*, 1, 2, 5

No. 6 Alexandre Lacroix (UF) def. No. 57 Chris Nott (UA) 6-3, 6-2

Joseph Burkhardt (UF) def. Matt Hogan (UA) 7-5, 6-1

Antoine Benneteau (UF) def. Dmitry Lebedev (UA) 6-3, 6-1

Bob Van Overbeek (UF) def. Taylor King (UA) 6-3, 6-2

Sekou Bangoura (UF) def. Nikolas Zogaj (UA) 7-5, 6-4, 1-0 (14)

Nassim Slilam (UF) def. Gregoire Lehmann (UA) 1-6, 6-3, 6-1

Doubles

Order of Finish: 3, 2*1

Benneteau/Lacroix (UF) def. Nott/Lebedev (UA) 9-7

Sekou Bangoura/Joseph Burkahardt (UF) def. Hogan/Matt Walters (UA) 8-6

Billy Federhofer/Bob Van Overbeek (UF) def. Taylor King/Bradwin Williams (UA) 8-3