Florida Gators
UCF
No. 12 Florida Men's Tennis Blanks UCF, 7-0
Thursday, January 24, 2013 | Men's Tennis
The 12th-ranked Florida men's tennis team shutout the UCF Knights, 7-0, on Wednesday evening at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. The Gators improved to 2-0 on the season with two matches scheduled for this weekend as UF hosts the 2013 ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
Once again, the Gators used a strong doubles performance to take a 1-0 lead in the match. At the No. 2 doubles position, Florida's pair of Bob van Overbeek and Stephane Piro cruised to an 8-1 victory over UCF's Francesc Aulina and Jorge Blasco. At No. 3 doubles, Billy Federhofer and Luke Johnson then clinched the point for UF with an 8-3 win over the Knights' Matthew Gladstone and Jose Sangroniz.
“It was great to play a night match,” said head coach Bryan Shelton. “I was pleased with our energy level. For playing a match at 5:00 at night, I thought the guys did a good job preparing. I was happy we came out of the blocks firing in doubles and were able to get large leads at the 2 and 3 spots and really establish some momentum in the match.”
The No. 1 doubles match was halted at 4-4 between the Gators' Mike Alford and Florent Diep and UCF's Amar Hromic and Juan Bolona.
In singles action, van Overbeek cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 3 singles over Sangroniz, giving the Gators a 2-0 lead in the match. Alford and Piro then finished within minutes of each other to clinch the victory for Florida. Alford defeated Gladstone, 6-2, 6-1, on court three and Piro beat Hromic, 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 2 position.
“In singles, Bob did a great job of being the catalyst for the team in his first match this season for us,” said Coach Shelton. “I was happy to see him not only start the match well, but finish it off well. I thought overall we just played solid tennis and competed well tonight.”
Diep won at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-4, over UCF's Blasco and Federhofer beat Aulina, 6-4, 6-3, on court five. Johnson completed the sweep with a 7-6 (3), 6-2 win at No. 6 singles over Bolona.
The Gators will be back in action this weekend when they host the 2013 ITA Kick-Off Weekend. Florida will play St. John's on Saturday at 10 a.m., followed by a match between UNC-Wilmington and South Alabama. The winning teams will play on Sunday at 1 p.m. for a chance to advance to the ITA National Indoor tournament, held February 15-17in Seattle. There will also be a consolation match on Sunday at 9 a.m.
| 2013 University of Florida Men's Tennis | ||||||
| Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex | ||||||
| Gainesville, Florida | ||||||
| Wednesday, January 23, 2013 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | UCF | Winner |
| Score (match length) |
| Mike Alford (45) | Amar Hromic | |||||
| No. 1 - | Florent Diep (45) | Juan Bolona | DNF | 4-4 | ||
| Bob van Overbeek | Francesc Aulina | |||||
| No. 2 - | Stephane Piro | Jorge Blasco | UF | 8-1 (:32) | ||
| Billy Federhofer | Matthew Gladstone | |||||
| No. 3 - | Luke Johnson | Jose Sangroniz | UF | 8-3 (:35) | ||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | UCF | Winner |
| Score (match length) |
| No. 1 - | Florent Diep (26) | Jorge Blasco | UF | 6-3, 6-4 (1:17) | ||
| No. 2 - | Stephane Piro | Amar Hromic | UF | 6-3, 6-3 (1:12) | ||
| No. 3 - | Bob van Overbeek (51) | Jose Sangroniz | UF | 6-0, 6-1 (:45) | ||
| No. 4 - | Mike Alford | Matthew Gladstone | UF | 6-2, 6-1 (1:10) | ||
| No. 5 - | Billy Federhofer | Francesc Aulina | UF | 6-4, 6-3 (1:17) | ||
| No. 6 - | Luke Johnson | Juan Bolona | UF | 7-6 (3), 6-2 (1:34) | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida - 7 | UCF - 0 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 2-0 | UCF 1-2 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 2, 3 | Singles: 3, 4, 2, 1, 5, 6 | ||||
| Attendance: | 116 | |||||
