GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida men's tennis team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a decisive 4-0 victory over the South Carolina State Bulldogs on Saturday.
The Gators continued their season-long dominance in doubles by winning the point in just 25 minutes. Playing on court three for the first time this season, No. 36
McClain Kessler and
Duarte Vale didn't surrender a point as they breezed to a 6-0 victory, giving Florida the early advantage. Shortly after Vale and Kessler concluded, the No. 42 ranked pair of
Oliver Crawford and
Chase Perez-Blanco, playing on court two for the first time this season, clinched the point for Florida with an impressive 6-1 win. The fifth-ranked duo of
Alfredo Perez and
Johannes Ingildsen lead 5-2 when play was stopped.
Florida's strong play continued right into singles play with first set wins on five of the six courts. Crawford, the SEC Freshman of the Year, was the first to finish his match on court one with his 14th straight sets victory of the season. After winning the first set by a score of 6-1, he breezed through set two with a 6-0 victory. On court six Kessler continued his strong play from the SEC Tournament to earn his fourth consecutive win, and ninth of the season, with a 6-2, 6-0 victory. The match was clinched for the Gators on court four as
Andy Andrade continues his impressive freshman campaign. Andrade jumped out to early leads in both sets, only surrendering one point in the process on his way to a 6-1, 6-0 straight sets victory to advance the Gators into the second round.
The Gators had three courts go unfinished in the match, Ingildsen trialed in his match 5-7, 0-2 while Perez lead 6-0, 4-2 and Perez-Blanco lead 7-5.
Gator Notables
• Florida is now 16-1 overall and 10-0 at home when they win the doubles point
• Under head coach
Bryan Shelton Florida is now 8-5 in the tournament
• The Gators will play for a chance to advance to the Round of 16 for the third straight season and fourth in the last five
• At home, this season UF is now 10-1
• Against unranked opponents, Florida is 6-0
• The Gators have won four of their last five matches, including three shutouts
• Kessler and Perez have each won four straight matches while Andrade has a five-match win streak
• Crawford and Perez-Blanco have won nine-straight doubles matches
• Andrade clinched his fifth match of the season against the Gators which is tied for the team lead
• When the Gators have won at No. 1 singles this year they are 12-0 in match play
• Perez-Blanco earned his 92nd career doubles win and is one away from tying Nathan Overholser for third all-time
• The Gators have appeared in 28 straight NCAA Tournament
• The 28 straight appearances are the third-longest active streak in the country, trailing only UCLA (42) and Georgia (35)
• In the ITA Rankings, the Gators find themselves ranked 13th. They have been ranked in the top 15 in every ranking this year
Records
Florida Gators: 17-9
South Carolina State Bulldogs: 10-7
Florida's Numbers in the NCAA Tournament
All-Time Record: 49-27
Best Finish: Semifinals (2000, 2005)
Appearances: 36 (28 straight)
Records by Round since 1999 Tournament Format:
First Round: 22-4
Second Round: 19-2
Round of 16: 6-15
Quarterfinals: 2-4
Semifinals: 0-2
Finals: n/a
*Includes regional play from 1991-1998 with regional finals included as a round of 16 match
The NCAA has recognized a national champion in men's tennis every year since 1946 but has only done so in tournament format since 1977. The tournaments moved from a 16-team field to the current 64-team field in 1999. The first two rounds are held at on-campus sites, followed by the Round of 16 and beyond at a designated NCAA Championship site.
Quoting Coach Shelton
On the Gators match as a whole
"It was fun to get back out there and see our guys compete again. Had a couple long weeks of practice and for them to be able to go out there in the first round and execute as well as we did, I was really pleased. I thought we were efficient on singles as well. Overall it was good team effort and a good team win against a very good South Carolina State team."
On the freshmen's first NCAA Tournament action
"I just told them to continue to focus on the things that they do well. That's the message for the whole team, to really look at your own identity and make sure you stay true to that. We don't need them to be anyone else out there because the strength that they all bring to the table are plenty enough. Understand your strengths and play to them."
Quoting McClain Kessler
On the team setting the tone for the whole match
"We put in a lot of really good work the past couple of the weeks and I think we were more prepared for the heat than they were. We got on them early and knew if we made it long tough points that we would have a good chance to put together our tools and get the match to where we wanted it to be at."
Quoting Oliver Crawford
On how the upperclassmen help lead the team
"The upperclassman have really showed me the ropes. They have done a really good job being leaders and leading our team in all aspects. For me it's been very easy in this process of getting climatized to college tennis because they have made it so easy this year."
On the importance of the home crowd
"It's very beneficial to be at home and it's always easier to play at home than it is away. We have in my opinion the best fans in the country. We had a lot of people come out and they are always really supportive."
Match Results
Doubles
(1) #5 Perez/Ingildsen (UF) vs Vitek/Ramirez (SCSU) – DNF, 5-2
(2) #42 Perez-Blanco/Crawford (UF) def. Daskalovic/Rodriguez (SCSU) – 6-1
(3) #36 Kessler/Vale (UF) def. Yanchenko/Stupar (SCSU) – 6-0
Florida won Doubles Point
Order of Finish: 3, 2
Singles
(1) #49
Oliver Crawford (UF) def. Vladyslav Yanchenko (SCSU) – 6-1, 6-0
(2) #28
Johannes Ingildsen (UF) vs Jakub Vitek (SCSU) – DNF, 5-7, 0-2
(3) #13
Alfredo Perez (UF) vs Aleksa Daskalovic (SCSU) – DNF, 6-0, 4-2
(4)
Andy Andrade (UF) def. Juan Ramirez (SCSU) – 6-1, 6-0 *
(5)
Chase Perez-Blanco (UF) vs Marcelo Rodriguez (SCSU) – DNF, 7-5
(6)
McClain Kessler (UF) def. Aleksander Stupar (SCSU) – 6-2, 6-0
Order of Finish: 1, 6, 4*
*Clincher
Up Next
NCAA Second Round | Sunday, May 13 at 1 p.m.
No. 13 Florida vs No. 40 Miami
Gainesville, Fla. | Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex
Watch Live | Live Stats | Twitter | Match Notes | Digital Program | Tickets
History vs Miami
• Florida and Miami have met four times in the NCAA Tournament with the Gators owning a 3-1 record. The last NCAA Tournament meeting was in 2011, a 4-0 win in the second round
• The first-ever meeting between UF and UM was in 1947
• This will be the Gators and Hurricanes first meeting since 2011
Follow the Gator
SOCIAL:
Twitter |
Facebook |
Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION:
#GoGators
