BATON ROUGE, La. – The University of Florida men's tennis team earned their first 7-0 shutout of the season with its win over LSU on Friday. In the process of earning win number 14 on the season, they also earned head coach Bryan Shelton his 100th victory in the Orange and Blue.
 
The Gators got things start early in doubles with the fifth-ranked duo of Alfredo Perez and Johannes Ingildsen regaining their All-American form in a 6-2 victory over No. 82 Agie Moreno and Rafael Wagner. Courts two and three were both deadlocked on tight battles that had to be decided in a 10-point tiebreak. As each pair neared completion it was the 12th ranked duo of Oliver Crawford and Chase Perez-Blanco that grabbed the win and the doubles for the Gators on court three.
 
Florida's strong play in doubles carried over to their singles matches. McClain Kessler and Crawford both jumped out to early leads and eventually won their first sets by scores of 6-1. Set two was no different for both Kessler and Crawford, as the cruised to easy 6-2 victories and earned two points for Florida.
 
The match-clinching point came on court five from freshman Andy Andrade. Andrade, who earned his second win of the weekend, had a battle on his hands early in set one but was able to pull through with a 6-4 win before earning a quick 6-1 victory in the final set.
 
The final three matches to conclude for the Gators were Perez-Blanco, Perez, and Ingildsen. Perez-Blanco earned a 6-4, 6-2 win on court four. His match was followed by a 7-6, 6-2 win on court three from Perez and a 6-2, 6-4 win on court one from Ingildsen.
 
Quoting Coach Shelton
"We played a complete match today. I don't hit a single ball in these matches so the players are the ones that should get the credit. I've been fortunate to work alongside some great coaches. Coach Perelman has been with me for each of these victories and Kate Harte has been instrumental as well. Tanner is a young but talented coach as well. We have had outstanding support staffs and our administration has been phenomenal.  Wish Mike Hill the very best moving forward at UNC Charlotte. He is a superstar."
 
Gator Notables
• Coach Shelton won his 100th career match
• Florida is now 28-27-1 all-time against LSU
• Andrade earned his fourth match clinching point of the season. He is second on the team trailing only Crawford who has five
• Ingildsen won his first career match at No. 1 singles while Crawford earned his first win at No. 2 singles
• Florida is now 13-1 when winning the doubles point
• With the win over LSU, the Gators can clinch third-place next Friday against Alabama
• This was the Gators first 7-0 shutout of the season
• Florida has now beaten LSU in six consecutive matches
• Crawford and Perez-Blanco have won five straight doubles matches
• Perez-Blanco earned singles win number 90 in his career and is four away from ninth on the all-time list at UF. He also earned his 178th combined wins against LSU, and is now just three total wins away from sixth on the all-time combined singles and doubles wins list
 
Match Results
Doubles
(1) #5 Perez/Ingildsen (UF) def. #82 Agie Moreno/Rafael Wagner (LSU) – 6-2
(2) #44 Kessler/Vale (UF) vs Julian Saborio/Nikola Samardzic (LSU) – DNF, 6-6
(3) #12 Perez-Blanco/Crawford (UF) def. Stewart Block/Shane Monroe (LSU) – 7-6
Florida won Doubles Point
Order of Finish: 1, 3
Singles
(1) #16 Johannes Ingildsen (UF) def. Shane Monroe (LSU) – 6-2, 6-4
(2) #31 Oliver Crawford (UF) def. Rafael Wagner (LSU) – 6-1, 6-2
(3) #9 Alfredo Perez (UF) def. Nikola Samardzic (LSU) – 7-6, 6-2
(4) Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) def. Julian Saborio (LSU) – 6-4, 6-2
(5) Andy Andrade (UF) def. Agie Moreno (LSU) – 6-4, 6-1 *
(6) McClain Kessler (UF) def. Stewart Block (LSU) – 6-1, 6-2
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 5*, 4, 3, 1
*Clincher
 
Up Next
Florida will be at home on Friday, April 13 for their final regular season match of the season while also honoring the team's three seniors. The Gators will host Alabama at 5 p.m. and kick off the We Chomp Weekend.
 
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