Florida Gators
#32 Florida State
Florida Reigns Supreme in Share a Little Sunshine Showdown, Defeats FSU, 4-2
Saturday, February 7, 2015 | Men's Tennis
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – It was a memorable match for the Gators in front of an impressive showing of fans decked out in Orange & Blue, as No. 14 Florida pulled together a gutsy 4-2 victory over in-state rival No. 33 Florida State Friday evening at the Speicher Tennis Center in another classic Share a Little Sunshine Showdown.
Florida dropped the doubles point for the third time in the last four matches and fell victim to an early 1-0 deficit. No. 49 Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin kept the Gators in the hunt for the doubles point after No. 32 Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson fell to No. 24 Benjamin Lock and Marco Nunez, 6-0, but Florida State's No. 3 doubles duo proved to be too much for Florida. The freshman sibling duo of Terrance and Terrell Whitehurst topped No. 43 Oliver Landert and Joshua Wardell, 6-3, to clinch the point for the Seminoles.
Florida State increased their lead to 2-0 after Cristian Gonzalez Mendez defeated Landert, 6-2, 6-4, on Court 5, but the Gators would not go home without a fight. Watson put Florida on the board with a straight-set victory over FSU's Jose Gracia, 6-4, 7-6 (4). Freshman Chase Perez-Blanco followed suit with a 7-5, 6-4 win versus Whitehurst and the Gators were right back in the match.
No. 81 Orkin hung on after splitting the first two sets with Michael Rinaldi and grinded out a 6-3 win in the third to put the Gators ahead, 3-2, and the focus shifted to the No. 1 and No. 2 courts, where both Lipman and Hidalgo tussled back and forth with their respective opponents all night.
Both Gators were neck and neck with their Seminole opponents in an effort to clinch the match. The two Florida players earned early leads in their third sets, but allowed their opponents to jump right back in it and take leads of their own. Finally, while Lipman and Lock were tied, six-all, Hidalgo dug deep and defeated No. 99 Nunez, 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-5.
The Gators have a 20-day break in action before they return home for their next match on Feb. 26, when they host No. 4 Georgia at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex to open conference play.
| 2015 University of Florida Men's Tennis | ||||||
| Scott Speicher Tennis Center | ||||||
| Tallahassee, Florida | ||||||
| Friday, February 6, 2015 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | FSU | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| Gordon Watson (32) | Benjamin Lock (24) | |||||
| No. 1 - | Diego Hidalgo (32) | Marco Nunez (24) | FSU | 6-0 (:28) | ||
| Maxx Lipman (49) | Cristian Gonzalez Mendez | |||||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin (49) | Jose Gracia | UF | 6-2 (:29) | ||
| Oliver Landert (43) | Terrance Whitehurst | |||||
| No. 3 - | Josh Wardell (43) | Terrell Whitehurst | *FSU | 6-3 (:37) | ||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | FSU | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| No. 1 - | Maxx Lipman (34) | Benjamin Lock | DNF | 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-6, unf. | ||
| No. 2 - | Diego Hidalgo (60) | Marco Nunez (99) | *UF | 7-5, 6-7 (4), 7-5 | ||
| No. 3 - | Elliott Orkin (81) | Michael Rinaldi | UF | 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 | ||
| No. 4 - | Gordon Watson | Jose Gracia | UF | 6-4, 7-6 (4) | ||
| No. 5 - | Oliver Landert | Cristian Gonzalez Mendez | FSU | 6-2, 6-4 | ||
| No. 6 - | Chase Perez-Blanco | Terrell Whitehurst | UF | 7-5, 6-4 | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida – 4 | FSU - 2 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 5-2 | FSU 7-2 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 1, 2, 3 | Singles: 5, 4, 6, 3, 2 | ||||
Quotes from the Match
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On defeating Florida State at their home stadium…
FSU played a great match tonight and pushed us to the limit in front of an amazing crowd. I really want to thank our boosters for bussing so many of our fans to this great college match. This match was full of drama and had a little bit of everything. Just really proud of our guys for finding a way when we weren't playing our best. I love the way our guys compete. This match is one we will remember.
FOLLOW THE GATORS:
