BOX SCORE
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Despite dropping the doubles point again, No. 2 Florida notched the top spot in the SEC with a 5-2 win over Texas A&M on Sunday afternoon at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
The Gators improved to 9-0 in the SEC and are the only undefeated team remaining in the conference. This start is Florida's best since beginning the 2005 conference season 11-0 en route to its regular season SEC Championship.
Florida entered the match riding a 10-match winning streak, all over ranked opponents, while Texas A&M had won 14 straight this season, 21 in conference play dating back to 2017. The Aggies defeated the Gators three times last season, with the final punch coming in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
In its 16th-consecutive top-50 match, Florida found itself at an early disadvantage after dropping the doubles point with losses on courts one and two.
Johannes Ingildsen and
Alfredo Perez abandoned their match after mounting a monster rally to erase a 1-5 deficit and leave it unfinished up 6-5.
Singles should sound familiar though. The Gators roared back and blanked Texas A&M in the first set, taking all six courts.
Duarte Vale remained undefeated in SEC play with a 6-4, 6-2 win on court six and tied the match for Florida. Vale extended his winning streak to eight and improved to 10-1 for the spring.
Sam Riffice edged No. 62 Hady Habib on court two as he finished the match with the first of two pivotal tiebreak wins for the Gators.
Oliver Crawford put Florida up 3-1 with a thrilling 2-set win on the center court.
Texas A&M was not going away though. The Aggies forced a third set on courts three, four and five. They grabbed their lone singles win on court three over
Andy Andrade.
Lukas Greif clinched the match in a third-set tiebreaker on court five and Ingildsen capped off the match with an upset of No. 79 Barnaby Smith on court four.
Up next, Florida will travel to State of Alabama for a weekend series with the Crimson Tide and the Auburn Tigers on Friday and Sunday. First serve between the Gators and the Tide on Friday will be at 7 p.m. ET.
Quotes from the Gators
Freshman Lukas Greif
"Every single guy was fired up because they beat us three times last year and they were undefeated this year in the SEC, so we knew it was a huge match and we just wanted to give our best effort and go out swinging today. We did that and I'm proud of our team."
"It feels unbelievable being a freshman and being able to clinch that match. I can't thank the guys that cheered me on enough because I couldn't have done that without them. It's just me out there but it's all them supporting me and it's incredible."
Final Results
#2 Florida 5, #7 Texas A&M 2
Doubles-Order of Finish: 1,2
1. #23 Barnaby Smith/Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) def.
Duarte Vale/
McClain Kessler (UF) 6-3
2. Hady Habib/Kevin Lam (TAMU) def.
Oliver Crawford/
Sam Riffice (UF) 6-4
3.
Johannes Ingildsen/
Alfredo Perez (UF) vs. Austin Abbrat/Guido Marson (TAMU) 6-5, unfinished
Singles-Order of Finish: 6,2,1,3,5,4
1. #15
Oliver Crawford (UF) def. #77 Juan Carlos Aguilar (TAMU) 6-2, 6-4
2. #51
Sam Riffice (UF) def. #62 Hady Habib (TAMU) 6-3, 7-6 (7-3)
3. #32 Valentin Vacherot (TAMU) def. #29 Andres Andrade (UF) 1-6, 6-3, 6-2
4. #97
Johannes Ingildsen (UF) def. #76 Barnaby Smith (TAMU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
5.
Lukas Greif (UF) def. Noah Schachter (TAMU) 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3)*
6.
Duarte Vale (UF) def. Austin Abbrat (TAMU) 6-4, 6-2
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