SEATTLE – The 11th-ranked Gators dropped their opening round match of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Nation Indoor Championships 4-0 to No. 6 Texas A&M on Friday. With the loss, Florida will move to the consolation bracket for the remainder of the tournament.
For the second consecutive match, and the third time this season, the Gators were unable to secure the crucial doubles point. Florida got a good start at No. 2 doubles when
Alfredo Perez and
Oliver Crawford jumped out to a 5-1 lead over No. 6 Juan Carlos Aguilar and Jordi Arconada. Leading 5-1, the duo gave up three straight points before finally taking the match 6-4. After the Gators lost 6-2 on court three it came down to No. 5
McClain Kessler and
Duarte Vale at the No. 1 spot. The two battled hard and came back from a 5-4 deficit to tie the match at five all but were unable to take control of the match, falling 7-5.
Florida started slow once again in singles, losing the first set in four of the six matches and again forcing themselves to dig out of an early hole. The slow start in those first sets proved to be costly as the Gators lost at both No. 2 and No. 3 singles in straight sets, and gave the Aggies a 3-0 lead in the match. At No. 1 singles Perez was able to win the first set but was unable to close out the match falling in the final two sets 6-3, 6-1 which gave the match to Texas A&M.
Quoting Coach Shelton
"We put ourselves in a hole early and Texas A&M capitalized on it. We have another opportunity tomorrow and our guys are fired up to get back out there and improve from today. "
Match Results
Doubles
(1) Patrick Kypson / Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. #5 Kessler / Vale (UF) – 7-5
(2) Perez / Crawford (UF) def. #6 Juan Carlos Aguilar / Jordi Arconada (TAMU) – 6-4
(3) Valentin Vacherot / Barnaby Smith (TAMU) def. Ingildsen / Perez-Blanco (UF) – 6-2
Texas A&M won Doubles Point
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1
Singles
(1) #84 Patrick Kypson (TAMU) def. #9
Alfredo Perez (UF) – 6-4, 6-3, 6-1*
(2) Arthur Rinderknech (TAMU) def. #7
Johannes Ingildsen (UF) – 7-6(4), 6-4
(3) #67 Jordi Arconada (TAMU) def. #43
Duarte Vale (UF) – 6-2, 6-1
(4)
Oliver Crawford (UF) vs #35 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) – DNF 6-7(4), 6-4, 1-0
(5)
Andy Andrade (UF) vs Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) – DNF 7-5, 5-6
(6)
McClain Kessler (UF) vs Barnaby Smith (TAMU) – DNF 1-6, 6-4, 2-4
Order of Finish: 3, 2, 1*
*Clincher
Up Next
No. 11 Florida take on No. 22 Notre Dame Saturday at noon eastern in the consolation bracket. The match will be at the Seattle Tennis Club so only live scoring will be provided. Live scoring for Saturday's match can be found
HERE.
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