Florida Gators
#34 South Carolina
Florida Tabs First SEC Win of the Season Over South Carolina, 4-1
Saturday, February 28, 2015 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida was unfazed by the inclement weather that moved their match to the Charles R. & Nancy V. Perry Indoor Facility Saturday afternoon, as the No. 17 Gators earned their first conference victory of the season with a 4-1 win over the No. 34 South Carolina Gamecocks in a nearly four and a half hour affair on Saturday afternoon.
Rain forced the match indoors, allowing just three singles matches to be played at one time. Florida received a lift from their No. 1 and No. 2 singles players, as No. 46 Diego Hidalgo defeated Kyle Koch, 7-6 (5), 6-3, and No. 103 Maxx Lipman took down Andrew Adams in three sets, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Gordon Watson fell just short of securing a shutout on Court 3 and dropped a three-set decision to No. 101 Andrew Schafer, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5, to make it a 3-1 match.
Singles match-ups on Courts 4, 5 and 6 stepped on and it was freshman Chase Perez-Blanco who got out to the fastest start for Florida, taking set one versus Thomas Mayronne, 6-3. As No. 80 Elliott Orkin split sets and Jordan Belga held a 4-1 lead in his second set, Perez-Blanco closed out Mayronne, 6-1, and clinched the 4-1 win.
Florida showed vast improvement in doubles, winning the early point for the first time in their last three outings. Lipman and Orkin blanked Koch and Sam Swank on Court 2, 6-0. The Gators' No. 1 pairing, No. 47-ranked Hidalgo and Watson, was forced into a tie-break at 6-all, and downed No. 44 Thomas Mayronne and Harrison O'Keefe in seven straight points to earn the doubles point, 7-6 (0).
The Gators take their first road trip of the conference schedule to No. 16 Vanderbilt on Friday, March 6 for a 5 p.m. start in Nashville, Tenn.
| 2015 University of Florida Men's Tennis | ||||||
| Scott Linder Stadium at Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex | ||||||
| Gainesville, Florida | ||||||
| Saturday, February 28, 2015 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | SOUTH CAROLINA | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| Diego Hidalgo (47) | Thomas Mayronne (44) | |||||
| No. 1 - | Gordon Watson (47) | Harrison O'Keefe (44) | UF* | 7-6 (0) (:51) | ||
| Maxx Lipman | Kyle Koch | |||||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin | Sam Swank | UF | 6-0 (:22) | ||
| Oliver Landert | Andrew Adams | |||||
| No. 3 - | Chase Perez-Blanco | Andrew Schafer | SC | 6-2 (:32) | ||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | SOUTH CAROLINA | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| No. 1 - | Diego Hidalgo (46) | Kyle Koch | UF | 7-6 (5), 6-3 (1:40) | ||
| No. 2 - | Maxx Lipman (103) | Andrew Adams | UF | 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 (1:42) | ||
| No. 3 - | Gordon Watson | Andrew Schafer (101) | SC | 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 (2:00) | ||
| No. 4 - | Elliott Orkin (80) | Harrison O'Keefe | DNF | 6-3, 4-6, DNF | ||
| No. 5 - | Chase Perez-Blanco (123) | Thomas Mayronne | UF* | 6-3, 6-1 (:55) | ||
| No. 6 - | Jordan Belga | Sam Swank | DNF | 2-6, 4-1, DNF | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida – 4 | South Carolina – 1 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 6-3, 1-1 | South Carolina 8-7, 0-2 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 2, 3, 1* | Singles: 1, 2, 3, 5* | ||||
| Attendance: 105 | ||||||
Quotes from the Match
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On development of the freshmen thus far…
I think we're making improvements. I think Chase [Perez-Blanco] took a big step to win under pressure today the way that he did. I think even more importantly he's kind of realized that he's got to put in the extra work and continue to do that so he can continue to improve. We challenged him a few weeks back and he's responded. I think he really understands he's got a lot of talent and ability but he's got to put in the work and he's been doing a better job of that. I think he got his reward today. He's a tough competitor who has a lot of game and it was on full display today. He was hitting the forehand heavy, he was ripping his backhand and he was moving extremely well.
Jordan [Belga], it's just great that he got an opportunity today to get out there and play. We tell our guys all the time you've just got to keep working because you never know when your number is going to get called and you're going to be out there playing in a big match. Rich [Brej] got to play on Thursday night against UGA, his first dual match for the Gators and he's out there playing Georgia. And here's “JB,” the match is on the line against South Carolina and he's walking out on the court and gets to go out there and compete. Jordan's been working hard and putting in the extra time and effort, so it's good to see him out there and have that opportunity and he got better as the match went along. He put himself in a position to win that second set.
Overall, I'm very pleased with the team. It was team effort today and we've just got to get back to work and get ready for Vanderbilt next week.
Freshman Chase Perez-Blanco
On clinching his first match for Florida…
It's a great feeling. To be able to clinch a match, I don't think there's a better feeling, especially being a part of a team like this. You want to do anything you can to help them out. To get that clinch, it really brought a smile to my face. It was a really good feeling.
On staying focused during the wait to start his singles match due to the shortage of indoor courts…
It was pretty tough because I could've either played a few points if Gordon [Watson] would've finished it off or I could've finished my whole match. You never really know what's going to happen so you've just got to prepare to play your match and have that mindset. I didn't really do anything differently to prepare for it. You've always got to prepare to play.
Florida vs. South Carolina:
Florida improved to 26-6-1 all-time versus South Carolina and earned their first conference victory of the season over the Gamecocks for the second consecutive year.
Hidalgo en Fuego:
Junior Diego Hidalgo remains undefeated in dual match singles through nine matches played. He's defeated two ranked opponents in dual matches this season and owns the best dual match singles record on the team (8-0). Hidalgo was promoted to the No. 1 singles position to open conference play and is 2-0 in the number one spot.
CPB FTW:
Freshman Chase Perez-Blanco clinched his first match for the Gators with a straight-set victory over South Carolina's Thomas Mayronne, 6-3, 6-1. Perez-Blanco broke into the ITA singles rankings for the first time in his career in the latest poll at No. 123.
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