Florida Gators
#1 USC
Florida Hangs Tough in 5-2 Loss to No. 1 USC
Sunday, February 1, 2015 | Men's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 17 Florida Gators refused to back down after falling behind early in the match, but were unable to overcome the defending National Champion and fell to USC, 5-2, on day one of the SEC/Pac-12 Showdown in Athens, Ga., Saturday afternoon.
The Gators fell short in the doubles event for the second consecutive match, as USC's No. 2 and No. 1 doubles pairings edged Florida's No. 49 Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin, 6-4, and No. 32 Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson, 7-6, respectively.
Heading into the match, Hidalgo and Watson were undefeated in doubles this season, and narrowly missed defeating the No. 1-ranked doubles pairing in the country, the Trojans' Yannick Hanfmann and Roberto Quiroz.
The Trojans jumped out to a 3-0 lead after securing singles wins at the No. 2 and No. 1 positions. No. 68 Quiroz topped No. 81 Orkin in straight sets, 6-2, 7-5. No. 34 Lipman took set one from the No. 3-ranked singles player in the country, Hanfmann, but couldn't hold on and lost sets two and three, 6-4, 6-1.
No. 60 Hidalgo put Florida on the board with a 0-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 win over USC's No. 8 Jonny Wang, tabbing his first career dual match victory over a ranked opponent and protecting his perfect singles record through five matches played this season. Watson picked up Florida's second singles victory of the day at the No. 4 position in unyielding fashion, with a 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4) win over Eric Johnson.
The Gators have another tough challenge ahead, as they face No. 4 UCLA on Sunday, Feb. 1 at 10 a.m. on the final day of the SEC/Pac-12 Showdown at the Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility in Athens, Ga.
| 2015 University of Florida Men's Tennis | ||||||
| Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Facility | ||||||
| Athens, Georgia | ||||||
| Saturday, January 31, 2015 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | USC | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| Gordon Watson (32) | Yannick Hanfmann (1) | |||||
| No. 1 - | Diego Hidalgo (32) | Roberto Quiroz (1) | *USC | 7-6 (7-5) | ||
| Maxx Lipman (49) | Max De Vroome | |||||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin (49) | Eric Johnson | USC | 6-4 | ||
| Oliver Landert (43) | Nick Crystal | |||||
| No. 3 - | Josh Wardell (43) | Connor Farren | DNF | |||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | USC | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| No. 1 - | Maxx Lipman (34) | Yannick Hanfmann (3) | USC | 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 | ||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin (81) | Roberto Quiroz (68) | USC | 6-2, 7-5 | ||
| No. 3 - | Diego Hidalgo (60) | Jonny Wang (8) | UF | 0-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 | ||
| No. 4 - | Gordon Watson | Eric Johnson | UF | 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4) | ||
| No. 5 - | Oliver Landert | Nick Crystal (58) | *USC | 6-2, 7-5 | ||
| No. 6 - | Jordan Belga | Rob Bellamy | USC | 7-6 (7-5), 2-6, 10-6 | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida - 2 | USC - 5 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 3-2 | USC 4-0 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 2, 1 | Singles: 2, 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 | ||||
| Attendance: 189 | ||||||
Quotes from the Match
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On having the opportunity to play the top-ranked team in the country…
Our guys played well today. We had opportunities in every singles match and were able to capitalize fully in a couple spots. I am really looking forward to getting out there tomorrow against UCLA. These matches are invaluable to our team. We got better today.
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