COLUMBUS, Ohio – Florida's Big Ten road trip came to a close Sunday afternoon at Ohio State. The Gators ended the road trip on the losing end following Sunday's 5-2 loss to No. 2 Ohio State.

The Gators used the same doubles lineup as Friday at Michigan with McClain Kessler and Duarte Vale at No.1, Alfredo Perez and Oliver Crawford at No. 2 and Johannes Ingildsen and Chase Perez-Blanco at No. 3. 

Florida fell behind early in doubles when the fifth-ranked pair of Vale and Kessler lost 6-1 to the 25th-ranked duo of Mikael Torpegaard and Martin Joyce. On the second court, Perez and Crawford earned their first doubles win after a 6-4 decision over JJ Wolf and John McNally. The doubles point came down to court three, but Ingildsen and Perez-Blanco were unable to get the win, falling 7-5. This was just the second time the Gators failed to win the doubles point.

The Gators knew the odds were stacked against them heading into singles trailing by a point and playing indoors, against an indoor team. Like their match against Michigan, Florida fell behind early in the first set of singles, however this time it proved costly. Florida found themselves trailing 3-0 in the match after Perez fell on court one 6-2, 6-2 and then on court three when Vale lost 6-3, 6-2. Ohio
State clinched the match on court six when Kessler fell to Alex Kobelt 6-4, 6-4. 

Quoting Coach Shelton
"All credit goes to Ohio State. They are a very good team. We had our chances to win the doubles point but they played better down the stretch."

"In singles we just didn't play aggressively enough and you aren't going to beat this team unless you step up. The fight was there from our guys, but we just have to learn to play smarter and more effective tennis based on the conditions and the opponent. Love our team and know we will continue to do the work to get better."

"Overall a great experience to come up here and get out of our comfort zone. We aren't ducking the best teams and we will be ready for SEC play with all of these quality matches."

Match Results
Doubles
(1) #25 Mikael Torpegaard / Martin Joyce (OSU) def. #5 McClain Kessler / Duarte Vale (UF) – 6-1
(2) Alfredo Perez / Oliver Crawford (UF) vs JJ Wolf / John McNally (OSU) – 6-4 
(3) #43 Matt Mendez / Hunter Tubert (OSU) def. Johannes Ingildsen / Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) – 7-5 
Ohio State won Doubles Point
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Singles
(1) #5 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. #9 Alfredo Perez (UF) – 6-2, 6-2
(2) #7 Johannes Ingildsen (UF) def. #41 JJ Wolf (OSU) – 7-5, 6-4 
(3) #56 John McNally (OSU) def. #43 Duarte Vale (UF) – 6-3, 6-2
(4) Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Oliver Crawford (UF) – 7-6(7-4), 7-6(7-5)
(5) Andy Andrade (UF) def. #30 Kyle Seelig(OSU) – 6-3, 4-6,1-0(10-8) 
(6) Alex Kobelt (OSU) def. McClain Kessler (UF) – 6-4, 6-4*
Order of Finish: S: 3, 1, 6, 2, 5, 4
*Clincher

Up Next
No. 11 Florida will travel to Seattle Washington next week to compete in the ITA National Indoor Championships. The tournament will run from Feb. 16-19 with opponents being announced later in the week.