UF tennis: Men advance at NCAA tourney, while women are eliminated

No. 1 overall seed Florida blew by South Florida 4-0 Saturday in the NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament's first round at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.

The Gators (21-2) will play South Florida (17-9), a 4-2 winner over Duke in Saturday morning's other opener, at 2 p.m. Sunday for the right to advance to the Sweet 16.

UF won the doubles point at No. 2 Sam Riffice-Ben Shelton and No. 3 Brian Berdusco- Will Grant with 6-2 decisions.

In singles play, Duarte Vale (at No. 1), Riffice (No. 2) and Andy Andrade (No. 3) rolled in straight sets.

Both the men's and women's first- and second-round competitions will feature a four-team bracket, with the winners of each pod advancing to the championship rounds at the USTA National Campus in Orlando on May 16-22.

Women: The No. 11-seeded Gators (13-8) lost 4-1 to Southern Cal (13-10) in the regional finale Saturday evening. 

After USC secured the doubles tally, Florida countered with a spirited effort in singles but came up short as the Trojans punched a ticket to the tournament's round of 16 in Lake Nona next week.

Junior Sydney Berlin, winning for the eighth-straight time, posted Florida's lone point.

"It was clear early on this season that we had challenges other than forehands and backhands and today, unfortunately, we were unable to overcome them," UF coach Roland Thornqvist said. " Our mission now is to mold our team next year into a mirror image of our senior Ida (Jarlskog). She IS the Florida Way."