Florida Gators
Kentucky
Stellar Singles Play Lifts Gators to 4-1 Win at Kentucky
Saturday, April 11, 2015 | Men's Tennis
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Despite another slow start in doubles, the No. 17 Florida Gators tallied four-straight singles wins and defeated the Kentucky Wildcats, 4-1, at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex Friday evening.
UF dropped the doubles point for the second straight match to start the evening, but surged ahead in singles, taking four of six first sets to kick off the individual event. Sophomore Elliott Orkin started a wave of singles wins for the Gators when he defeated Jerry Lopez, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 2 singles. Freshman Chase Perez-Blanco and redshirt freshman Joshua Wardell both recorded straight-set victories to lift Florida to a 3-1 lead, and junior No. 65 Diego Hidalgo closed it out with a 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over Kentucky's No. 1 singles player, No. 80-ranked Beck Pennington.
The Gators conclude the 2015 regular season at No. 43 Tennessee on Sunday, April 12 at Barksdale Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn.
| 2015 University of Florida Men's Tennis | ||||||
| Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex | ||||||
| Lexington, Ky. | ||||||
| Friday, April 10, 2015 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | KENTUCKY | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| Maxx Lipman (81) | Kevin Lai (43) | |||||
| No. 1 - | Elliott Orkin (81) | Beck Pennington (43) | DNF | 6-5, DNF | ||
| Diego Hidalgo (37) | Nils Ellefsen | |||||
| No. 2 - | Gordon Watson (37) | Jerry Lopez | UK | 6-4 | ||
| Chase Perez-Blanco | William Bushamuka | |||||
| No. 3 - | Joshua Wardell | Trey Yates | UK* | 7-5 | ||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | KENTUCKY | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| No. 1 - | Diego Hidalgo (65) | Beck Pennington (80) | UF* | 7-6 (4), 6-3 | ||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin | Jerry Lopez | UF | 6-4, 6-2 | ||
| No. 3 - | Gordon Watson | William Bushamuka | DNF | 0-6, 6-4, 2-2, DNF | ||
| No. 4 - | Chase Perez-Blanco | Trey Yates | UF | 7-6 (6), 6-1 | ||
| No. 5 - | Maxx Lipman (108) | Nils Ellefsen | DNF | 6-7, 6-5, DNF | ||
| No. 6 - | Joshua Wardell | Kevin Lai | UF | 6-3, 6-2 | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida – 4 | Kentucky – 1 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 12-7, 7-4 | Kentucky 11-15, 2-9 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 2, 3* | Singles: 2, 6, 4, 1* | ||||
| Attendance: NA | ||||||
Quotes from the Match
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On sticking it out in singles after dropping the doubles point…
Our guys really hung in there tonight. It's not easy to win on the road in this league, especially after losing the doubles point. Our guys didn't panic and kept playing with a lot of heart.
Florida vs. Kentucky:
Florida leads the all-time series with Kentucky, 44-14.
Leading the Way:
Rookie Chase Perez-Blanco and sophomore Elliott Orkin continue to lead the Gators with seven SEC singles wins apiece. Perez-Blanco boasts the best overall dual singles record on the squad, 12-2.
Regular Season Wrap Up:
The Gators will close the 2015 regular season at No. 43 Tennessee on Sunday and begin postseason play at the SEC Tournament in College Station, Texas on Wednesday, April 15.
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