Hogs face Gators in first round

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Arkansas men’s tennis team travels to Florida for the SEC Tournament this week. The first match for the Razorbacks is against fifth-seeded Florida.

“I’m excited for us to play the No. 5 seed, Florida,” said head coach Robert Cox. “It is important for us to end the season strong.”

This will be the second time the Razorbacks have played the Gators on their home courts this season. The first meeting was March 6, and resulted in a 7-0 victory for Florida. The Gators managed wins on two of the three doubles courts and on all six singles courts.

Florida is now 14-8 on the season and finished SEC play 7-4. The Razorbacks have only faced Florida once before in the SEC Tournament. That matchup was in 1997 with Florida winning the contest.

“We have the opportunity to play Florida on their home court and it’s going to be a great atmosphere,” said Cox. “There will be a big crowd and I’m excited about rising to the challenge.”

The Hogs possess a singles player that has once again broken into the rankings.

“All year we have managed to give everyone fits, we just need to close them out,” said Cox. “I’m really excited about the opportunity to extend our season.”

The last time the two teams faced each other, the Hog’s doubles lineup consisted of Mike Ward/Nikolas Zogaj, Matt Hogan/Mike Nott and Gregoire Lehmann/Chris Nott at the one, two and three positions, respectively. For singles the lineup included Hogan, C. Nott, Zogaj, Lehmann, Ward and Manfred Jeske in the one through six positions.

Cox closed the regular season with a doubles lineup of Nott/Hogan, Ward/Zogaj and Manfred Jeske/Hall Fess at one, two and three, respectively. The singles lineup was Nott, Hogan, Zogaj, Lehmann, Ward and Jeske at one through six, respectively.

Nott leads the team with a ranking of No. 117 in the nation. Ward and Hogan are tied for the team lead in victories with 15 each. Nott has 14, followed by Zogaj with 13 and Lehmann with 12. In doubles, Ward and Zogaj are 14-8.

The first round of play for the Razorbacks is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Eastern, 2 p.m. Central time. For more information about the men’s tennis team, log on to www.ArkansasRazorbacks.com.