Florida Gators
#8 Texas A&M
Gators Give it Their All, But Fall to No. 8 Aggies on Senior Day
Sunday, April 5, 2015 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 16 Florida Gators tested the No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies on all six singles courts, but could not quite pull off the upset and fell to the visitors by a deceiving 4-0 score on Easter Sunday afternoon at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
The Orange and Blue gave the top-10 squad from College Station all they could handle, but fell short on Senior Day in their regular-season home finale. All six singles matches were forced into a third-set, however the Gators found themselves playing catch up after falling behind in four of six first sets. Florida started to turn things around and took set two on Courts 1, 2, 5 and 6, but the SEC-leading Aggies stepped up their game in set three and swept the bottom half of the line-up before Florida could put a point on the board.
In another hard fought doubles outing, Florida dropped the early point for the second time in the last three matches. Diego Hidalgo and Gordon Watson waged an impressive battle on Court 1 after trailing 5-2, as Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin led 6-5 at No. 2. Ultimately, Texas A&M's No. 13-ranked doubles tandem of Harrison Adams and Shane Vinsant proved to be too much for the top Florida duo and clinched the early point for the Aggies.
The Gators embark on their final road trip of the regular season next weekend, starting with a visit to Kentucky on Friday, April 10 for a 5 p.m. match at the Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex.
| 2015 University of Florida Men's Tennis | ||||||
| Scott Linder Stadium at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex | ||||||
| Gainesville, Fla. | ||||||
| Sunday, April 5, 2015 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | TEXAS A&M | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| Diego Hidalgo (42) | Harrison Adams (13) | |||||
| No. 1 - | Gordon Watson (42) | Shane Vinsant (13) | TAMU* | 6-4 (:40) | ||
| Maxx Lipman | Jeremy Efferding (33) | |||||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin | Jordan Szabo (33) | DNF | 6-5, DNF | ||
| Oliver Landert (62) | Arthur Rinderknech | |||||
| No. 3 - | Joshua Wardell (62) | A.J. Catanzariti | TAMU | 6-0 (:20) | ||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | TEXAS A&M | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| No. 1 - | Diego Hidalgo (71) | Jeremy Efferding (59) | DNF | 3-6, 7-5, DNF | ||
| No. 2 - | Elliott Orkin (115) | Shane Vinsant (67) | DNF | 4-6, 7-5, 2-2, DNF | ||
| No. 3 - | Gordon Watson | Arthur Rinderknech | DNF | 7-5, 4-6, 2-3, DNF | ||
| No. 4 - | Maxx Lipman (118) | Harrison Adams (51) | TAMU | 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 (2:00) | ||
| No. 5 - | Chase Perez-Blanco | A.J. Catanzariti (79) | TAMU | 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 (1:55) | ||
| No. 6 - | Joshua Wardell | Jordi Arconada | TAMU* | 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 (2:05) | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida – 0 | Texas A&M – 4 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 11-7, 6-4 | Texas A&M 17-3, 10-1 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 3, 1* | Singles: 5, 4, 6* | ||||
| Attendance: 313 | ||||||
Quotes from the Match
Shelton's Notes – Head Coach Bryan Shelton
On Florida's fight against the SEC-leading Texas A&M Aggies…
I thought it was good. Texas A&M came in and played a really good match from start to finish. In doubles they came out ready to play and we just started too slow out there and put ourselves in a hole, losing our serve in two first service games on Court 1 and also on Court 3. So that kind of set the tone for the doubles. We were trying to play catch up there on Court 1 and did a good job of fighting and hanging in there and trying to get back, but we just dug too big a hole there. In singles play I was really pleased. I felt like up and down the board we competed well, played well, put ourselves in good positions in sets, and it was a tight match. It's one of those where [if] we get one our two points, we can pick those two points somewhere, I think we win a few more of those matches and we're still out there playing right now. Like I said, hats off to Texas A&M. They're a quality team. Not only are they talented but they compete hard and hopefully we get to see them again in a couple of weeks' time at the SEC Tournament.
On moving forward after today's loss…
We certainly can learn from it. We're close against a top-10 team. We're not very far off at all so I think we can look at the positives, look at some of the things we did really well, and everybody on the court did things well. So we can focus in on those things and also look at areas where we can get a little bit better in the next week or two. Big weekend coming up with Tennessee and Kentucky, starting with Kentucky on Friday. It'll be a tough test up there on the road and we look forward to the challenge.
Florida vs. Texas A&M:
With today's loss, Florida drops to 3-6 all-time versus Texas A&M.
Home Finale:
Florida concluded its 2015 home schedule with a 7-4 overall record and a 4-2 mark versus SEC competition.
Senior Day:
Senior Richard Brej was honored prior to today's match. The walk-on from Long Grove, Ill., a two-year member of the Florida Gators, made two doubles appearances in dual matches for UF this season after competing solely in fall tournaments his first year.
First Conference Loss for the Freshman:
Rookie Chase Perez-Blanco entered today's match undefeated in SEC singles. Texas A&M's No. 79 A.J. Catanzariti, also a freshman, handed the Miami, Fla., native his first career conference singles loss, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
What's Next:
Florida concludes the 2015 regular season on the road with matches at Kentucky and No. 43 Tennessee.
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