Saturday, January 28
Gainesville, FL
11:00 AM
Florida Gators
4
vs
0
UNC Wilmington
Senior Maxx Lipman earned the first singles point for the Gators against the UNC Wilmington Seahawks on Sunday (Photo: Courtney Culbreath / UAA Communications)
Gators Rout Seahawks in First Day of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Saturday, January 28, 2017 | Men's Tennis
UF vs UNCW Results | LSU vs USF Results
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida men's tennis team rolled through UNC Wilmington on Saturday to earn their third straight sweep at home, winning 4-0. The Gators will advance to the championship match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Sunday morning, where they will face conference opponent LSU.
The doubles team of Chase Perez-Blanco and Maxx Lipman earned a quick 6-1 win over the Seahawks' Hublitz/Back, but Elliott Orkin and McClain Kessler finished right behind them to clinch the doubles point, defeating UNCW's de Reuda/Groom 6-0.
In singles play, no Gator surrendered more than two games in a set. Maxx Lipman earned the first singles point for the Gators with a 6-0, 6-1 win over UNCW's Daniel Groom, while Alfredo Perez followed close behind, defeating Josh Hublitz 6-0, 6-0 for his third win at the No. 1 position. Elliott Orkin finished the match with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Andres Torres to clinch the final point.
On the back courts, LSU lost the doubles point to USF, but came back to win the last singles match of the day to clinch the win. LSU advances to the championship match tomorrow at 11 am, while USF will face UNC Wilmington in tomorrow's consolation match at 9 am.
Head Coach Bryan Shelton
"I was pleased with what I saw from our guys today, I thought that we came out aggressively early and really set the tone for the match in the doubles. I thought our preparation was good leading up to today, we talked before the match about taking care of things that were under our control today, like our attitude and our energy, and making sure that in doubles we position ourselves in the right places and executing. So much of this game is built on confidence, and the more times we made good plays the more confident we got as the match went on in both doubles and singles."
Looking forward to tomorrow's match against LSU...
"Last year when we played LSU we saw just how tough they are. We won a tight 4-3 match at their place, so we have a lot of respect for them and we know it's going to be a good match."
"I think it helps a little bit. They have a couple new guys on their team, but we actually played them in the fall. So we're familiar with their team and they're familiar with us as well. They beat a very good South Florida team so I'm sure they're feeling good about themselves today. We're looking forward to the challenge, and looking forward to seeing how well our guys face adversity tomorrow when it presents itself, because for us that's going to really determine how we do this year – how well we can fight when our back is up against the wall."
Senior Elliott Orkin
"I thought it was a good day, UNC Wilmington is a good team. They brought a lot of energy early on in doubles but I think we were really well prepared from last week's matches. I think we all had things to work on this past week that we knew we needed to get ready for this weekend. Overall in both singles and doubles I think we played really well."
On how the team is preparing for tomorrow's championship against LSU…
"We got to watch the end of LSU's match, at least all of their singles, and we're pretty familiar with a lot of their players just because they're in the same conference as us. For me, I think I did a better job of playing more aggressive tennis, which is more like my game as opposed to how much defense I was playing last weekend. I'm going try to continue to do that tomorrow and hopefully I can get another win for us."
ITA Division I Kick-Off Weekend
Hosted by the University of Florida
Linder Stadium at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
January 28-29, 2017
No. 11 Florida [1] vs. LSU [3]
Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017 | 11 AM
Lineups
No. 24 USF [2] vs. UNC Wilmington [4]
Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017 | 9 AM
Lineups
About the Event
Four teams will be competing in Gainesville this weekend – Florida, USF, LSU and UNC Wilmington. The No. 1 seed Florida will face the No. 4 seed UNC Wilmington, while No. 2 USF and No. 3 LSU will square off at the same time. The two winners from these matches will move on to Sunday's championship match, while the two losers will play a consolation match.
There are 15 "regionals" played on both the men's and women's side, with four teams competing in each regional. The winners of the single-elimination event advance to next month's ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships. Yale (women's) and Virginia (men's) will serve as hosts for the National Team Indoors and received automatic invitations to the event, and are exempt from competing in the Kick-Off Weekend.
Host sites for Kick-Off Weekend were determined using the final 2015-16 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. A draft was held to fill the No.'s 2-4 seeds at all locations, again using the final national team rankings as a guide to determine draft order.
The ninth annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend takes place Jan. 27-29, 2017, at 23 different Division I tennis facilities across the country. In all, there are 60 teams competing per gender in Kick-Off Weekend events.
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GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida men's tennis team rolled through UNC Wilmington on Saturday to earn their third straight sweep at home, winning 4-0. The Gators will advance to the championship match of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend Sunday morning, where they will face conference opponent LSU.
The doubles team of Chase Perez-Blanco and Maxx Lipman earned a quick 6-1 win over the Seahawks' Hublitz/Back, but Elliott Orkin and McClain Kessler finished right behind them to clinch the doubles point, defeating UNCW's de Reuda/Groom 6-0.
In singles play, no Gator surrendered more than two games in a set. Maxx Lipman earned the first singles point for the Gators with a 6-0, 6-1 win over UNCW's Daniel Groom, while Alfredo Perez followed close behind, defeating Josh Hublitz 6-0, 6-0 for his third win at the No. 1 position. Elliott Orkin finished the match with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Andres Torres to clinch the final point.
On the back courts, LSU lost the doubles point to USF, but came back to win the last singles match of the day to clinch the win. LSU advances to the championship match tomorrow at 11 am, while USF will face UNC Wilmington in tomorrow's consolation match at 9 am.
Head Coach Bryan Shelton
"I was pleased with what I saw from our guys today, I thought that we came out aggressively early and really set the tone for the match in the doubles. I thought our preparation was good leading up to today, we talked before the match about taking care of things that were under our control today, like our attitude and our energy, and making sure that in doubles we position ourselves in the right places and executing. So much of this game is built on confidence, and the more times we made good plays the more confident we got as the match went on in both doubles and singles."
Looking forward to tomorrow's match against LSU...
"Last year when we played LSU we saw just how tough they are. We won a tight 4-3 match at their place, so we have a lot of respect for them and we know it's going to be a good match."
"I think it helps a little bit. They have a couple new guys on their team, but we actually played them in the fall. So we're familiar with their team and they're familiar with us as well. They beat a very good South Florida team so I'm sure they're feeling good about themselves today. We're looking forward to the challenge, and looking forward to seeing how well our guys face adversity tomorrow when it presents itself, because for us that's going to really determine how we do this year – how well we can fight when our back is up against the wall."
Senior Elliott Orkin
"I thought it was a good day, UNC Wilmington is a good team. They brought a lot of energy early on in doubles but I think we were really well prepared from last week's matches. I think we all had things to work on this past week that we knew we needed to get ready for this weekend. Overall in both singles and doubles I think we played really well."
On how the team is preparing for tomorrow's championship against LSU…
"We got to watch the end of LSU's match, at least all of their singles, and we're pretty familiar with a lot of their players just because they're in the same conference as us. For me, I think I did a better job of playing more aggressive tennis, which is more like my game as opposed to how much defense I was playing last weekend. I'm going try to continue to do that tomorrow and hopefully I can get another win for us."
ITA Division I Kick-Off Weekend
Hosted by the University of Florida
Linder Stadium at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
January 28-29, 2017
No. 11 Florida [1] vs. LSU [3]
Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017 | 11 AM
Lineups
No. 24 USF [2] vs. UNC Wilmington [4]
Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017 | 9 AM
Lineups
About the Event
Four teams will be competing in Gainesville this weekend – Florida, USF, LSU and UNC Wilmington. The No. 1 seed Florida will face the No. 4 seed UNC Wilmington, while No. 2 USF and No. 3 LSU will square off at the same time. The two winners from these matches will move on to Sunday's championship match, while the two losers will play a consolation match.
There are 15 "regionals" played on both the men's and women's side, with four teams competing in each regional. The winners of the single-elimination event advance to next month's ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships. Yale (women's) and Virginia (men's) will serve as hosts for the National Team Indoors and received automatic invitations to the event, and are exempt from competing in the Kick-Off Weekend.
Host sites for Kick-Off Weekend were determined using the final 2015-16 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. A draft was held to fill the No.'s 2-4 seeds at all locations, again using the final national team rankings as a guide to determine draft order.
The ninth annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend takes place Jan. 27-29, 2017, at 23 different Division I tennis facilities across the country. In all, there are 60 teams competing per gender in Kick-Off Weekend events.
Follow the Gators
Join the conversation: Tweet #GoGators
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FloridaGators.com
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