FSU sports information:
The No. 10 seed Florida State men’s tennis team advanced out of the Tallahassee Regional with a 4-1 victory over UCF on Saturday. The Seminoles will make their second Super Regional appearance in the last three seasons and are among the last 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history.
"We had a great effort from our guys to bounce back from doubles," head coach Dwayne Hultquist said. "We lost a tight doubles point, but we started strong in singles. Once we came indoors, we really played lights-out, and all six guys were playing good. It’s exciting to advance and continue the momentum that we built two weeks ago in winning the ACC Tournament. It’s hard to be one of the last 16 teams remaining. There’s a lot of good teams in college and you see a lot of upsets along the way. I’m thrilled for the guys to get there and want to continue working hard and have no regrets as we see how far we can go.”
The match started with a competitive doubles contest that ultimately provided UCF with the match’s first point. The Knights won on court 3 before Loris Pourroy and Youcef Rihanne evened the doubles competition with a 6-3 win at No. 2. UCF’s 6-4 win at No. 1 gave the Knights the point and a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
Florida State immediately jumped ahead in singles, winning the first set on all six courts. As the first sets were wrapping up, a lightning warning stopped the competition. After rain and lightning remained in the area, the match was moved indoors and resumed following a two-hour-and-10-minute delay.
Once inside, Jamie Connel made quick work of his opponent, finishing off a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3 to give FSU its first point of the match. He was followed quickly by Pourroy’s 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 2 and Rihane’s 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 4 to put the Seminoles in clinching position.
Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc, the nation’s No. 4-ranked singles player, gave Florida State the point it needed with his 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 1. Cornut-Chauvinc is now 25-2 this season and has won eight singles contests in a row.
“What we got from Antoine, Loris, Jamie and Youcef was tremendous,” Hultquist said. “Youcef was on fire in the second set, going from down 3-1 to win the last five games. Today was a day we had to dig down again, being down, and it shows how resilient this team is. They’re playing hard for each other, and that’s all you can ask for.”
FSU also led at No. 5 and No. 6 singles when the match was clinched. Joshua Dous-Karpenschif was serving with a 6-3, 5-4 lead at No. 5, and Alex Bulte was ahead 6-4, 3-0 at No. 6.
“One of the keys in the match was Alex being down 5-3 and he ends up winning the first set,” Hultquist said. “That gave us six first sets and really established the momentum for us to finish it off. I thought Josh played really well today, too. He didn’t finish but he was serving for it (when the match ended).”
Florida State will face the winner of No. 7 seed Tennessee and Memphis in the Super Regional round. The match location, date and time will be announced after the matchups are set.
#10 Florida State 4, #36 UCF 1
Singles Competition:
The No. 10 seed Florida State men’s tennis team advanced out of the Tallahassee Regional with a 4-1 victory over UCF on Saturday. The Seminoles will make their second Super Regional appearance in the last three seasons and are among the last 16 teams remaining in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history.
"We had a great effort from our guys to bounce back from doubles," head coach Dwayne Hultquist said. "We lost a tight doubles point, but we started strong in singles. Once we came indoors, we really played lights-out, and all six guys were playing good. It’s exciting to advance and continue the momentum that we built two weeks ago in winning the ACC Tournament. It’s hard to be one of the last 16 teams remaining. There’s a lot of good teams in college and you see a lot of upsets along the way. I’m thrilled for the guys to get there and want to continue working hard and have no regrets as we see how far we can go.”
The match started with a competitive doubles contest that ultimately provided UCF with the match’s first point. The Knights won on court 3 before Loris Pourroy and Youcef Rihanne evened the doubles competition with a 6-3 win at No. 2. UCF’s 6-4 win at No. 1 gave the Knights the point and a 1-0 lead heading into singles.
Florida State immediately jumped ahead in singles, winning the first set on all six courts. As the first sets were wrapping up, a lightning warning stopped the competition. After rain and lightning remained in the area, the match was moved indoors and resumed following a two-hour-and-10-minute delay.
Once inside, Jamie Connel made quick work of his opponent, finishing off a 6-2, 6-2 win at No. 3 to give FSU its first point of the match. He was followed quickly by Pourroy’s 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 2 and Rihane’s 6-3, 6-3 win at No. 4 to put the Seminoles in clinching position.
Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc, the nation’s No. 4-ranked singles player, gave Florida State the point it needed with his 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 1. Cornut-Chauvinc is now 25-2 this season and has won eight singles contests in a row.
“What we got from Antoine, Loris, Jamie and Youcef was tremendous,” Hultquist said. “Youcef was on fire in the second set, going from down 3-1 to win the last five games. Today was a day we had to dig down again, being down, and it shows how resilient this team is. They’re playing hard for each other, and that’s all you can ask for.”
FSU also led at No. 5 and No. 6 singles when the match was clinched. Joshua Dous-Karpenschif was serving with a 6-3, 5-4 lead at No. 5, and Alex Bulte was ahead 6-4, 3-0 at No. 6.
“One of the keys in the match was Alex being down 5-3 and he ends up winning the first set,” Hultquist said. “That gave us six first sets and really established the momentum for us to finish it off. I thought Josh played really well today, too. He didn’t finish but he was serving for it (when the match ended).”
Florida State will face the winner of No. 7 seed Tennessee and Memphis in the Super Regional round. The match location, date and time will be announced after the matchups are set.
#10 Florida State 4, #36 UCF 1
Singles Competition:
- #4 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc (FSU) def. #121 Yassine Dlimi (UCF) 6-4, 6-2
- Loris Pourroy (FSU) def. Lleyton Cronje (UCF) 6-3, 6-0
- Jamie Connel (FSU) def. Liam Branger (UCF) 6-2, 6-2
- Youcef Rihane (FSU) def. Paul Colin (UCF) 6-3, 6-3
- Joshua Dous-Karpenschif (FSU) vs. Santiago Giamichelle (UCF) 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
- Alex Bulte (FSU) vs. Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) 6-4, 3-0, unfinished
- Lleyton Cronje/Santiago Giamichelle (UCF) def. #13 Antoine Cornut-Chauvinc/Joshua Dous-Karpenschif (FSU) 6-4
- #88 Loris Pourroy/Youcef Rihane (FSU) def. Francisco Llanes/Emilio Sanchez (UCF) 6-3
- Liam Branger/Paul Colin (UCF) def. Alex Bulte/Jamie Connel (FSU) 6-2
