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The 2014 Southeastern Conference Men’s Tennis Tournament began Wednesday, April 16 at the Brownlee O. Currey Jr. Tennis Center at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
The University of Florida Gators are the fourth seed after finishing fourth in the SEC regular season. The Gators earned a two-round bye since they are one of the top four seeds. The Gators play on Friday at 7pm against the winner of fifth seed Mississippi State and the winner between 12 seed Arkansas and 13 seed LSU.
The Gators have an overall record of 13-8 and a record of 8-4 in the SEC. The Gators have a 9-1 record at home this season. Florida coach Bryan Shelton says his team is playing well.
“Our freshmen continue to do well. We’re asking a lot of them. Every week they’re in key roles for us and they’re doing well. Diego Hidalgo’s competing like a champion. And Maxx Lipman, Elliott Orkin, they’re really having to step up,” said Shelton.
Florida is coming off a win over Kentucky. Shelton says the win over the Wildcats boosted the team’s morale going into the tournament.
“For us, we’re excited to go into the tournament. Obviously it helps to have beaten Kentucky, a good feeling going in, feel like we have some momentum. The conference is always tough but at the same time we feel like we can beat anyone in the conference,” said Sherman.
“I always love the tournament, the conference tournament, because you’ve had a chance to see everybody throughout the season and so it’s a little bit easier to make the game plans. And hopefully we’re at a point where we can go in there and execute our game plan,” Shelton said.
The tournament championship is Sunday at 2pm.
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