No. 17 Florida Hosts No. 34 South Carolina Saturday
Friday, February 27, 2015 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 17 Florida Gators continue Southeastern Conference competition, when they host No. 34 South Carolina on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 1 p.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
Florida leads the all-time record with South Carolina, 25-6-1. Both teams are seeking their first SEC victory of the season.
The Gators dropped their conference opener to No. 7 Georgia Thursday evening, 4-1, at home. After losing a crucial doubles point, the home team started slowly in singles and failed to recover, as sophomore Elliott Orkin was the only Gator to pick up a singles win.
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On improvement in doubles…
I thought we played well [against Georgia]. I thought Gordon [Watson] and Diego [Hidalgo] played much better than they've played in the previous matches where they kind of got blanked a couple of times, so I was pleased with how we returned there, how we worked the points there, how we moved aggressively off each other's good shots. Diego really stepped up on the big points and made some great poaches off of Gordon's great balls, so they worked well together today. That was a big, big improvement from the last few matches. And Maxx [Lipman] and Elliott [Orkin] have been solid for us lately, so they just came through again big.
On Diego Hidalgo's debut at No. 1 singles versus Georgia…
Diego fought like a champion. That guy, [Georgia's] Wayne Montgomery, played ball all night and Diego never flinched. I'm just really, really proud of him for his effort. He really represented us well at that No. 1 spot tonight, took one of the best players in the country. And had that match gone the distance, my money was on Diego. So we're really pleased with him and Chase [Perez-Blanco] as well. I'm glad to see him out there competing, back against the wall. He's down 6-5, [Georgia's Ben Wagland]'s serving for it and [Chase] just finds a way to just hang in there and get back in there and win that second set. You see some positives out there. It's so early in the season for us. We'll get better as we go along.
Last Time:
In the last meeting between the two programs, Florida dropped the doubles point, but overcame the early disadvantage and rattled off four singles wins to take down SEC-foe South Carolina, 4-2, on March 9, 2014. It was the first SEC win of the season for the Gators.
Hidalgo en Fuego:
Junior Diego Hidalgo remains undefeated in dual match singles through eight matches played. He was named SEC Player of the Week after clinching the 4-2 win over Florida State with a 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-5 win over the Seminoles' then-No. 99 Marco Nunez. He made his debut at No. 1 singles in the line-up against No. 7 Georgia.
Joining the Ranks:
Freshman Chase Perez-Blanco earned his first career ITA singles ranking at No. 123 in the most recent poll.
PROMOTIONS:
Selfie Saturday – Snap a selfie at the match and tweet it out using the hashtag #GameSetMatchUF for a chance to win a Florida Tennis prize pack.
Win Two Tickets to Men's Basketball vs. Texas A&M – All fans in attendance can enter to win two tickets to Men's Basketball Senior Day, when the Gators take on Texas A&M on Tuesday, March 3. The winner will be announced between singles and doubles.
#17 Florida (5-3, 0-1) vs. #34 South Carolina (8-6, 0-1)
Saturday, Feb. 28 at 1 p.m.
Scott Linder Stadium at Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex, Gainesville, Fla.
Live Stats: http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/live/?sport=tennm&live_match=12397
Notes: http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/men/stats/notes/pre/20150228130000.pdf
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