The Gators had a good showing at the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championship on Friday as three players advanced to the singles round of 32.
Sekou Bangoura Jr. earned an impressive straight-sets victory against Takura Happy of FAMU (6-3, 6-2).
UF’s other two singles victories weren’t as easy, as both freshman Andrew Butz and sophomore Bob van Overbeek had to battle for three sets against their opponents.
Butz earned a victory against No. 108 Cesare Gallo of Stetson (6-2, 4-6, 6-4). It was the first time in his young career that Butz defeated a nationally-ranked opponent.
“As a freshman, he continues to impress in singles,” coach Andy Jackson said.
Van Overbeek also earned a victory against Yannick Yoshizawa of South Florida (6-1, 6-7, 7-6).
Billy Federhofer faced a tough opponent in No. 4 Guillermo Gomez of Georgia Tech, but the sophomore fell in straight-sets (6-4, 7-5).
“He was definitely in the match against a guy that I consider to be one of the best in the country,” Jackson said. “He’s just not at that level yet, but we don’t need him to be.”
In doubles action, the team of Alexandre Lacroix and Slilam picked up two wins to advance to the quarterfinals.
The No. 20 pair began the day with a decisive 8-0 win against Miami’s Waylon Chin and Eduardo Pavia. They followed up with an 8-5 victory over Stetson’s Maksim Levanovich and Christopher Swanteson.
Their road to the championship won’t be easy as they face Georgia’s pair of Sadio Doumbia and Ignacio Taboada on Saturday.
“They’re going to have a serious challenge tomorrow with the team from Georgia,” Jackson said. “Starting tomorrow, every match will be one in which they will be tested.”
The UF women kicked off the first day of the ITA Southeast Regional Championship by going 8-0 in the first round of singles and 3-0 in the first round of doubles on Friday.
The Gators came out firing on all cylinders as Allie Will, Brittany Borsanyi, Alex Cercone, Joanna Mather, Olivia Janowicz, Sofie Oyen, Claire Bartlett and Caroline Hitimana all won their first-round matches.
Will, Oyen, Cercone, Mather and Janowicz followed up with second-round wins to earn spots in the round of 16.
The Gators also enjoyed success in doubles play as the team of Mather and Hitimana picking up an 8-3 win against Kennesaw State’s Vera Shkundina and Avano Tanaka.
The teams of Cercone andJanowicz, and Oyen, Will had dominant performances as they won 8-1 and 8-0 respectively.
Saturday will be a busy one for the Gators as the second round of doubles play begins at 9 a.m., followed by the singles round of 16.
