UF vs. LSU |
USF vs. UNC Wilmington
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida men's tennis team swept the LSU Tigers 4-0 on Sunday, earning them the first place spot in this weekend's ITA Kick-Off Weekend tournament. The Gators' two wins this weekend automatically advances the team to the 2017 ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championship.
Although the Tigers proved to be tougher competition for the Gators, it took Florida only 26 minutes to earn a pair of wins and clinch the doubles point.
Elliott Orkin and
McClain Kessler earned the first win of the day, and the team of
Chase Perez-Blanco and
Maxx Lipman finished close behind to clinch the point for Florida.
Orkin earned the first singles point for Florida, defeating LSU's Nikola Samardzic 6-2, 6-3, followed closely by
Maxx Lipman's 6-4, 6-1 win over LSU's Eric Samuelsson.
McClain Kessler clinched the match for the Gators after a close second set against LSU's Gabor Csonka, but fought back to win 6-1, 7-5.
Because the Gators won the Gainesville division of the ITA Kick-Off-Weekend, the team gets an automatic berth into next month's 2017 ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championship. The event is hosted by the University of Virginia, and is held in Charlottesville, Va. February 17-20.
Head Coach Bryan Shelton
"It's a new year and a new team, and we are going to really enjoy this season. I thought our guys competed hard this weekend and I'm glad that we have guaranteed ourselves a trip to the National Team Indoors. I just want to thank our staff for putting on a great event, especially our Director of Tennis Operations,
Kate Harte. I also want to thank our fans and boosters for supporting us on this chilly weekend. Looking forward to getting back on the practice courts after reviewing the videos."
Notes
- The Gators now have not dropped one set of the 22 they have played this year – all at home.
- Perez-Blanco/Lipman is now 5-1; Orkin/Kessler is now 4-1 after both matches this weekend.
- Elliott Orkin is only five wins away from earning the 10th spot in school history for career overall wins.
- Florida now holds a 29-27-1 record over LSU.
Up Next for the Gators
The Florida men's tennis team will host the Pac-12/SEC Challenge next weekend. SEC schools Florida and Georgia will take on Pac-12 schools USC and UCLA will compete in Gainesville Saturday and Sunday, February 4-5.
- Sat. 2/4
- Georgia vs. UCLA, 10 AM
- Florida vs. USC, 1:30 PM
- Sun. 2/5
- Georgia vs. USC, 10 AM
- Florida vs. UCLA, 1:30 PM
About the ITA Kick-Off Weekend
Four teams will be competing in Gainesville this weekend – Florida, USF, LSU and UNC Wilmington. The No. 1 seed Florida will face the No. 4 seed UNC Wilmington, while No. 2 USF and No. 3 LSU will square off at the same time. The two winners from these matches will move on to Sunday's championship match, while the two losers will play a consolation match.
There are 15 "regionals" played on both the men's and women's side, with four teams competing in each regional. The winners of the single-elimination event advance to next month's ITA Division I National Team Indoor Championships. Yale (women's) and Virginia (men's) will serve as hosts for the National Team Indoors and received automatic invitations to the event, and are exempt from competing in the Kick-Off Weekend.
Host sites for Kick-Off Weekend were determined using the final 2015-16 Oracle/ITA Collegiate Tennis Rankings. A draft was held to fill the No.'s 2-4 seeds at all locations, again using the final national team rankings as a guide to determine draft order.
The ninth annual ITA Kick-Off Weekend takes place Jan. 27-29, 2017, at 23 different Division I tennis facilities across the country. In all, there are 60 teams competing per gender in Kick-Off Weekend events.
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