Florida Opens Three-Match Road Stint at Arkansas
Thursday, March 19, 2015 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After a successful conference weekend at home, the No. 15 Florida Gators look to continue their winning ways on the road, starting with No. 56 Arkansas on Friday, March 20 at 3 p.m. at the Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
The Gators hold a significant lead in the all-time series with the Razorbacks, 25-2.
UF earned two consecutive Southeastern Conference victories at home, with wins over No. 42 Mississippi State and No. 66 Alabama. Junior Diego Hidalgo clinched the win over the Bulldogs with his third victory over a ranked opponent this year. Freshman Chase Perez-Blanco earned his second career match-clinching win with a three-set decision over the Crimson Tide's Stuart Kenyon, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1.
UF's No. 3 doubles tandem, Oliver Landert and Joshua Wardell, went 2-0 on the weekend to help the Gators clinch the early point in both SEC matchups.
A win at Arkansas would extend the Gators' winning streak to three, good for their longest on the season.
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On improvements made in doubles…
I'm just really proud of our team for making some improvements. Over the last couple of weeks we've really worked hard on our doubles play and I felt like we had three teams out there competing well this weekend for us. We've had one, sometimes two, but it's been a bit of a challenge to get all three teams on the same page. Finally I think we're in a good place there.
On preparing for Arkansas…
It certainly will depend on whether we're inside or outside. Last year we played there and we played indoors and those courts were a little bit quick. When the court is a little bit faster speed, you really need to play a little bit more offensively. You need to make the court surface work for you. So we'll have to really focus in on attacking and moving forward and being able to finish at the net consistently, certainly taking a few more chances, moving forward. If we're outside, obviously the conditions will be much slower because it'll be fairly chilly, probably in the 50s or low 60s where the ball moves a bit slower. So two totally opposite situations. So we'll have to be ready for both in case we play in or out. In general, I think our guys are starting to understand where their strengths are and they understand what they need to do to be effective and each guy is different. So the game plan that Elliott Orkin has is certainly different than the game plan for Gordon Watson. Each of those guys understand what they're working on and how to get the most out of their games. I think the big thing for our team is that we're able to make adjustments in the middle of the match. The adjustments, that's the mental part. If something's not working, you've got to find answers. We're getting better at finding those answers.
Last Time:
Last season, the Gators dropped a tough 4-3 decision to the unranked Razorbacks in Fayetteville. It was Florida's second all-time loss to Arkansas. UF tied up the match late, 3-3, with a win at No. 3 singles from Maxx Lipman, but the Gators could not complete the comeback.
Big Impact Early:
Freshman Chase Perez-Blanco is making a big impact in his first year with the Florida Gators. The rookie was deservingly named SEC Freshman of the Week following his undefeated singles record on the weekend. Perez-Blanco is unbeaten in SEC dual match singles and leads the Gators with a 9-1 dual singles record. He's recorded a singles point for Florida in five of his last six outings.
Doubles Taking Shape:
Florida won the doubles point in back-to-back matches this weekend. The doubles tally earned versus Mississippi State was the first for the Gators since Feb. 28.
#15 Florida (8-5, 3-2) at #56 Arkansas (11-7, 1-3)
Friday, March 20 at 3 p.m.
Billingsley Tennis Center, Fayetteville, Ark.
Live Stats: http://arkrazor.com/livestats/mtennis/xlive.htm
Notes: http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/men/stats/notes/pre/20150320150000.pdf
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