Sunday, February 26
Gainesville, FL
12:00 PM
Florida Gators
vs
#2 Ohio State
Sophomore Alfredo Perez holds a 7-1 record in the No. 1 singles position this season (Photo: Courtney Culbreath / UAA Communications)
Florida Expects Tough Competition in Ohio State
Friday, February 24, 2017 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida men's tennis team has faced some tough competition in the first two months of the 2017 dual season, but it may see its toughest opponent yet as the Gators host the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes on Sunday.
No. 10 Florida (7-3) vs. No. 2 Ohio State (13-1)
Both teams made the trip to the National Team Indoor Championships last weekend in Virginia. Fifteen of the top teams in the nation were invited to the event, and each team had the rare opportunity to compete against at least three ranked opponents in the same number of days.
While the Gators were knocked out early by No. 11 Texas, UF fought back to beat a tough No. 16 Mississippi State team, but later fell to No. 14 Oklahoma to finish a 1-2 in the tournament.
Ohio State swept Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and won a close battle against Wake Forest to advance to the finals, where the Buckeyes fell to the reigning national champions, the Virginia Cavaliers. The tournament bumped the Buckeyes up a spot to No. 2 in the Oracle/ITA rankings, while Florida fell to No. 10.
"The more times that you're tested and pushed, the more you're ready for it when you face it again," head coach Bryan Shelton said about the team's tough battles at the National Indoors. "We learned a lot more about ourselves and I think that we are certainly better from that experience."
While they may have started their seasons differently, the Gators and Buckeyes will prove to be close competition for each other. Ohio State holds a 5-3 record over Florida, but the Gators have not defeated the Buckeyes since the 1989-1990 season.
As the season progresses, Florida will continue to switch up its starting lineup in search of the right combination. While some positions may change, Coach Shelton has seen a lot from certain players that will help them maintain their spots in the lineups.
"I think Alfredo [Perez], Jordan [Belga], Chase [Perez-Blanco] and Johannes [Ingildsen], those four in particular played great tennis for us," Shelton said regarding the National Indoors.
Another constant has been Alfredo Perez leading the team in the No. 1 singles position, and Perez and his teammate Johannes Ingildsen spearheading the doubles competition at the No. 1 position. Perez is currently ranked No. 6 nationally, and holds the best dual singles record on the team at 7-1. As a pair, Ingildsen and Perez have been almost unstoppable, holding a 12-3 record together for the 2016-17 season (4-2 in the spring).
"The team that's been the most stable and the most consistent for us so far has been Johannes and Alfredo. We would really like to keep that team intact if we can," Shelton said. "We're trying to just play around with a couple more combinations to see if we can get three teams that can go out there and be successful at a high percentage."
The first serve against Ohio State is scheduled for noon on Sunday, February 26th. Admission to all regular-season matches is free.
Notes
Oracle/ITA Rankings
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Match Day
No. 10 Florida (7-3) vs. No. 2 Ohio State (13-1)
When: Sunday, February 26th | Noon
Where: Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
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Both teams made the trip to the National Team Indoor Championships last weekend in Virginia. Fifteen of the top teams in the nation were invited to the event, and each team had the rare opportunity to compete against at least three ranked opponents in the same number of days.
While the Gators were knocked out early by No. 11 Texas, UF fought back to beat a tough No. 16 Mississippi State team, but later fell to No. 14 Oklahoma to finish a 1-2 in the tournament.
Ohio State swept Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and won a close battle against Wake Forest to advance to the finals, where the Buckeyes fell to the reigning national champions, the Virginia Cavaliers. The tournament bumped the Buckeyes up a spot to No. 2 in the Oracle/ITA rankings, while Florida fell to No. 10.
"The more times that you're tested and pushed, the more you're ready for it when you face it again," head coach Bryan Shelton said about the team's tough battles at the National Indoors. "We learned a lot more about ourselves and I think that we are certainly better from that experience."
While they may have started their seasons differently, the Gators and Buckeyes will prove to be close competition for each other. Ohio State holds a 5-3 record over Florida, but the Gators have not defeated the Buckeyes since the 1989-1990 season.
As the season progresses, Florida will continue to switch up its starting lineup in search of the right combination. While some positions may change, Coach Shelton has seen a lot from certain players that will help them maintain their spots in the lineups.
"I think Alfredo [Perez], Jordan [Belga], Chase [Perez-Blanco] and Johannes [Ingildsen], those four in particular played great tennis for us," Shelton said regarding the National Indoors.
Another constant has been Alfredo Perez leading the team in the No. 1 singles position, and Perez and his teammate Johannes Ingildsen spearheading the doubles competition at the No. 1 position. Perez is currently ranked No. 6 nationally, and holds the best dual singles record on the team at 7-1. As a pair, Ingildsen and Perez have been almost unstoppable, holding a 12-3 record together for the 2016-17 season (4-2 in the spring).
"The team that's been the most stable and the most consistent for us so far has been Johannes and Alfredo. We would really like to keep that team intact if we can," Shelton said. "We're trying to just play around with a couple more combinations to see if we can get three teams that can go out there and be successful at a high percentage."
The first serve against Ohio State is scheduled for noon on Sunday, February 26th. Admission to all regular-season matches is free.
Notes
- The last time UF faced off against Ohio State was last season on February 21, 2016 in Columbus, where the Buckeyes won a close 4-3 match.
- The last time the Gators beat the Buckeyes was on March 23, 1990 in Houston, Texas under Head Coach Ian Duvenhage. That win helped Florida earn a 17-9 season record and advance to the quarterfinals of the very first year of team play in the SEC Tournament in Knoxville, Tenn.
- Florida is currently the highest-ranked SEC program at No. 10. South Carolina comes in at No. 16, and the defending SEC Champion Georgia follows at No. 17.
- Senior Elliott Orkin currently holds the 9th spot in program history for career singles wins with 91, and with three more singles or doubles wins, he will tie the 10th spot on the career overall wins list.
Oracle/ITA Rankings
- Florida (10)
- Singles: Alfredo Perez (6), Elliott Orkin (92), Jordan Belga (120)
- Doubles: Ingildsen/Perez (9)
- Ohio State (2)
- Singles: Mikael Torpegaard (1), Hugo Di Feo (3), Herkko Pollanen (56), Martin Joyce (88)
- Doubles: Torpegaard/Pollanen (20), Di Feo/Joyce (56)
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