Florida 4, Alabama 0

April 18, 2003

OXFORD, Miss. - The top-seeded University of Florida men's tennis team took the first step towards a SEC Tournament title on Friday as it defeated ninth-seeded Alabama, 4-0, on the courts of the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center at Ole Miss University. With the win, Florida advanced to Saturday's semifinal match where it will face 14th-ranked Kentucky at 11 a.m. (ET)

Florida improved its record to 21-3 on the season, while Alabama fell to 17-9 overall. Florida moved to 4-1 against Alabama all-time in the SEC Tournament and in doing so improved to 8-5 in the quarterfinal round of the event.

As the Gators did during the entire SEC regular season, UF got out to an early lead by claiming the doubles point. Matt Behrmann and Troy Hahn got Florida within reach with their 8-4 win on court three over Chris Gostek and William Boyles. Leading 3-2, the UF duo took three straight points to pull way ahead. Two minutes after the win on court three, Eleazar Magallan and Olivier Levant made it a 1-0 advantage when they took out Maxim Belski and Brad Friedman, 8-6. Magallan and Levant were seemingly in control, 5-2, when Bama came back to even it at five before UF pulled away.

Mirzadeh helped to carry the momentum over to the singles as he put UF on top 2-0 with a 7-5, 6-2 win over 80th-ranked Maxim Belski at the top of the lineup. Levant and Behrmann came up with the straight set wins that clinched the match on courts four and five, respectively. Levant used scores of 6-4, 6-4 to get past Hiscox, while Behrmann outlasted Chris Brodersen, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

On Saturday, Florida will be looking to advance to its third championship match overall and first since defeating Georgia, 4-3, in Starkville during the 2000 season.

Kentucky used a 4-1 decision over LSU in Friday morning's first match to advance to the semifinals. Back on Friday, March 14, the Gators defeated Kentucky in Gainesville, 6-1.

Florida 4, Alabama 0
Doubles1. #17 Chris McDonald/Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) vs. Stephen Mitchell/Geoff Hiscox (UA), susp.2. #39 Olivier Levant/Eleazar Magallan (UF) def. Maxim Belski/Brad Friedman (UA), 8-63. #52 Matt Behrmann/Troy Hahn (UF) def. Chris Gostek/William Boyles (UA), 8-4
Singles1. #18 Hamid Mirzadeh (UF) vs. #80 Maxim Belski (UA), 7-5, 6-22. #3 Janne Holmia (UF) vs. #123 Stephen Mitchell (UA), susp.3. Troy Hahn (UF) vs. #105 Chris Gostek (UA), susp.4. #101 Olivier Levant (UF) def. Geoff Hiscox (UA), 6-4, 6-45. Matt Behrmann (UF) def. Christian Broderson (UA), 6-4, 7-6 (5)6. Eleazar Magallan (UF) vs. Michael Ray Pallares (UA), susp.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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