Florida Gators
#43 Tennessee
Strong Finish for No. 17 Florida as Gators Defeat Vols, 4-1, to Close Regular Season
Sunday, April 12, 2015 | Men's Tennis
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The No. 17 Florida Gators could not have asked for a better season-ending road trip leading into the postseason, as they defeated No. 43 Tennessee, 4-1, in their 2015 finale at Barksdale Stadium in Knoxville Sunday afternoon.
Florida set the tone early with a convincing win in doubles, the first in three matches for the Gators. No. 81 Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin took down the No. 3 doubles team in the country, Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese, 6-4, and immediately sparked the UF doubles effort. Freshman Chase Perez-Blanco and redshirt freshman Joshua Wardell clinched the point with a 6-2 win at No. 3.
Orkin, the sophomore from Marietta, Ga., clinched the win for the Orange and Blue for the second time in their last three victories, as he battled back from dropping the first set and turned his match around in sets two and three to earn the win. He and Perez-Blanco, another contributor to today's win, lead the Gators with eight SEC singles wins apiece. For the first time since Florida's 4-3 loss at Vanderbilt on March 6, sophomore No. 108-ranked Lipman, a Tennessee native, tallied a singles point for the Gators to help them to their regular season-ending road victory.
Postseason action begins for Florida on Thursday, April 16 at the SEC Tournament in College Station, Texas.
| 2015 University of Florida Men's Tennis | ||||||
| Barksdale Stadium | ||||||
| Knoxville, Tenn. | ||||||
| Sunday, April 12, 2015 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | TENNESSEE | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| Maxx Lipman (81) | Mikelis Libietis (3) | |||||
| No. 1 - | Elliott Orkin (81) | Hunter Reese (3) | UF | 6-4 | ||
| Diego Hidalgo (37) | Andrew Dromsky | |||||
| No. 2 - | Gordon Watson (37) | Igor Smelyanski | DNF | 5-3, DNF | ||
| Chase Perez-Blanco | Jack Schipanski | |||||
| No. 3 - | Joshua Wardell | Luis Valero | UF* | 6-2 | ||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | TENNESSEE | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| No. 1 - | Diego Hidalgo (65) | Mikelis Libietis (17) | UT | 6-4, 6-4 | ||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin | Hunter Reese | UF* | 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 | ||
| No. 3 - | Gordon Watson | Jack Schipanski | DNF | 6-2, 3-6, 4-1, DNF | ||
| No. 4 - | Chase Perez-Blanco | Luis Valero | UF | 7-5, 6-4 | ||
| No. 5 - | Maxx Lipman (108) | Igor Smelyanski | UF | 6-4, 6-4 | ||
| No. 6 - | Joshua Wardell | Jess Jones | DNF | 6-4, 3-6, 3-1, DNF | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida – 4 | Tennessee – 1 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 13-7, 8-4 | Tennessee 13-11, 5-7 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 1, 3* | Singles: 1, 5, 4, 2* | ||||
| Attendance: NA | ||||||
Quotes from the Match
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On closing the regular season with a win on the road…
Our guys really wanted to finish strong today and they did. We played the doubles with more energy today and executed on the critical points. We have to take this momentum with us and prepare for the SEC Tournament. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Florida vs. Tennessee:
Florida extended its all-time lead versus Tennessee to 39-26 with today's win.
Leading the Way:
Rookie Chase Perez-Blanco and sophomore Elliott Orkin continue to lead the Gators with eight SEC singles wins apiece. Perez-Blanco boasts the best overall dual singles record on the squad, 13-2, and has posted a singles point in six of UF's last seven wins.
SEC Tournament Outlook:
The SEC Tournament bracket has been released, and No. 6 seed Florida will face No. 11 seed Kentucky in the first round on Thursday, April 16 at 1 p.m.
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