Florida Gators
#14 Vanderbilt
Florida Rally Falls Short in 4-3 Loss to Vanderbilt
Saturday, March 7, 2015 | Men's Tennis
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 11 Florida Gators fell behind early, 3-0, and sparked a late surge in singles to tie the No. 14 Vanderbilt Commodores at three-all, but fell short in the match-decider on Court 6 and dropped a 4-3 decision in Nashville Friday evening.
Redshirt freshman Joshua Wardell had an opportunity to clinch the match at the No. 6 singles position, as Florida furiously battled back in singles to knot the overall match score at three. Wardell dropped the first set versus Vanderbilt's Baker Newman, 6-1, and kept it close in the second, but Newman earned a second-set tiebreak win to clinch the match for the Commodores.
Freshman Chase Perez-Blanco, sophomore Maxx Lipman and junior Gordon Watson each earned three-set singles victories to keep the Gators in the match. Vanderbilt's No. 9-ranked Gonzales Austin handed Florida junior No. 46 Diego Hidalgo his first dual match singles loss of the season, 7-5, 7-6 (6). Lipman and Elliott Orkin made up the only victorious doubles team for UF, as they defeated Pen Binet and Baker, 6-1.
| 2015 University of Florida Men's Tennis | ||||||
| Currey Tennis Center | ||||||
| Nashville, Tenn. | ||||||
| Friday, March 6, 2015 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | VANDERBILT | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| Diego Hidalgo (47) | Gonzales Austin (1) | |||||
| No. 1 - | Gordon Watson (47) | Rhys Johnson (1) | VAN | 6-2 | ||
| Maxx Lipman | Pen Binet | |||||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin | Baker Newman | UF | 6-1 | ||
| Oliver Landert | Suresh Eswaran | |||||
| No. 3 - | Chase Perez-Blanco | Daniel Valent | VAN | 6-4 | ||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | VANDERBILT | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| No. 1 - | Diego Hidalgo (46) | Gonzales Austin (9) | VAN | 7-5, 7-6 (6) | ||
| No. 2 - | Maxx Lipman (103) | Rhys Johnson | UF | 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (2) | ||
| No. 3 - | Elliott Orkin (80) | Daniel Valent | VAN | 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 | ||
| No. 4 - | Gordon Watson | Kris Yee | UF | 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 | ||
| No. 5 - | Chase Perez-Blanco (123) | Suresh Eswaran | UF | 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-3 | ||
| No. 6 - | Joshua Wardell | Baker Newman | VAN* | 6-1, 7-6 (3) | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida – 3 | Vanderbilt – 4 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 6-4, 1-2 | Vanderbilt 11-3, 2-1 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 2, 1, 3* | Singles: 3, 1, 5, 4, 2, 6* | ||||
Quotes from the Match
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On what the team can take away from tonight's loss…
Our team fought extremely hard tonight. We were down and out, but continued to fight. I believe this loss will ignite us to become better as a team and a program.
Florida vs. Vanderbilt:
With tonight's loss, Florida dropped just its 10th match all-time versus Vanderbilt. The Gators lead the all-time series with the Commodores, 38-10-1.
Hidalgo Halted:
Junior Diego Hidalgo dropped his first singles match of the dual season to Vanderbilt's No. 9 Gonzales Austin, 7-5, 7-6 (6).
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