Florida Gators
#45 Auburn
Two Gators Tab First Career SEC Singles Wins in 4-1 Victory Over Auburn
Saturday, March 28, 2015 | Men's Tennis
AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 20 Florida Gators returned to their winning ways with a 4-1 victory over No. 45 Auburn on Saturday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
Freshman Jordan Belga earned his first career Southeastern Conference singles victory in his first-ever match-clinching performance with a win at No. 5 singles over Auburn's Joseph Van Dooren, 6-4, 6-3. The rookie battled back from trailing 4-1 in the first set to winning in straight sets and securing the road win for the Gators. Redshirt freshman Joshua Wardell helped Florida to a 3-1 lead with his first career SEC singles win in a 6-0, 6-3 rout on Court 6.
For the second consecutive match, Florida dropped a close doubles point, but despite trailing early, the Gators didn't let up heading into individual play.
UF turned up the intensity in singles and won the first set on five of six courts. Sophomore Elliott Orkin and junior Diego Hidalgo won their respective singles within moments of one another, and both did so quite handily, as No. 115 Orkin defeated Max Hinnisdaels, 6-2, 6-0, and No. 71 Hidalgo blanked Auburn's No. 78 Lukas Ollert, 6-0, 6-0.
The Gators return home to the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex to host No. 24 LSU on Friday, April 3 at 5 p.m.
| 2015 University of Florida Men's Tennis | ||||||
| Yarbrough Tennis Center | ||||||
| Auburn, Ala. | ||||||
| Saturday, March 28, 2015 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | AUBURN | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| Diego Hidalgo (42) | Marko Krickovic | |||||
| No. 1 - | Gordon Watson (42) | Lukas Ollert | AU | 6-3 | ||
| Maxx Lipman | Oliver Plaskett | |||||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin | Petar Tomic | UF | 6-1 | ||
| Oliver Landert (62) | Max Hinnisdaels | |||||
| No. 3 - | Joshua Wardell (62) | Joseph Van Dooren | AU* | 7-6 (3) | ||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | AUBURN | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| No. 1 - | Diego Hidalgo (71) | Lukas Ollert (78) | UF | 6-0, 6-0 | ||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin (115) | Max Hinnisdaels | UF | 6-2, 6-0 | ||
| No. 3 - | Gordon Watson | Marko Krickovic | DNF | 6-4, 4-5, DNF | ||
| No. 4 - | Chase Perez-Blanco | Dante Saleh | DNF | 4-6, 3-4, DNF | ||
| No. 5 - | Jordan Belga | Joseph Van Dooren | UF* | 6-4, 6-3 | ||
| No. 6 - | Joshua Wardell | Petar Tomic | UF | 6-0, 6-3 | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida – 4 | Auburn – 1 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 10-6, 5-3 | Auburn 14-8, 2-6 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 2, 1, 3* | Singles: 2, 1, 6, 5* | ||||
| Attendance: NA | ||||||
Quotes from the Match
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On reactions to today's win…
I'm really proud of our guys and how they responded to adversity today. I'm proud of JB [Jordan Belga] for coming through after getting down today. I'm so happy to see him clinch the match. Diego [Hidalgo], Elliott [Orkin] and Josh [Wardell] really were outstanding in singles. It was also nice to see Gordon [Watson] and Chase [Perez-Blanco] battle with what was probably not their best stuff. It was a great team win.
Florida vs. Auburn:
Florida improved to 38-15 all-time versus Auburn.
Gator Firsts:
Both Jordan Belga and Joshua Wardell earned their first career SEC singles victories in the 4-1 win against Auburn. Belga also recorded his first-ever match-clinching win for the Gators.
Strive for Five:
Chase Perez-Blanco and Elliott Orkin lead UF with five SEC singles wins apiece. Perez-Blanco remains undefeated in conference singles.
The Road That Lies Ahead:
With just four regular-season matches remaining, the next two will be played in Gainesville against two opponents currently ranked in the top-25.
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