BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Florida men's tennis picked up a record-setting number of postseason conference accolades as head coach
Bryan Shelton was named SEC Coach of the Year and
Sam Riffice earned Freshman of the Year, the league announced Thursday.
Additionally, sophomore
Oliver Crawford made All-SEC First-Team, while Riffice, sophomore
Andy Andrade and junior
Johannes Ingildsen were listed on the All-SEC Second-Team. Riffice and
Lukas Greif were also named to the SEC All-Freshman team.
Florida's eight SEC honors sets a new program record, breaking the previous record of seven set in 2016.
Shelton is the 13
th coach to nab the postseason award for Florida and this marks the second of his tenure with the Gators. Shelton was named Coach of the Year in 2016 following the Gators' SEC Tournament Championship.
This season marks Shelton's seventh as head coach at Florida. He led the Gators to a current 21-3 record and a regular-season SEC Championship after going 12-0 in conference play. The team has also notched 16 wins over ranked opponents and was ranked No. 2 in the nation for the first time since 2006.
For the second-straight season, a Florida rookie earned the SEC Freshman of the Year honor. Riffice, who picked up three conference accolades, was 10-0 in SEC singles play. The Orlando native became the first Florida freshman since Jesse Levine in 2007 to go undefeated against SEC opponents in regular season singles action.
Rotating between the No. 2 and No. 3 singles positions for the Gators, Riffice went 7-2 against nationally ranked singles players. Throughout SEC singles play, he only dropped three sets and went 17-5 in dual matches through the regular season. He also went 14-4 in doubles, primarily playing at No. 3.
Crawford earned his second-career first-team All-SEC selection after holding the No. 1 singles position all season for the Gators. He is 15-8 overall and finished 9-3 in conference play. He currently holds the No. 7 spot in the singles ranking, a career-high, and is 11-7 over nationally ranked opponents, highlighted by a thrilling three-set victory over then No. 2 Petros Chrysochos of Wake Forest. In doubles, Crawford saw time at all three positions in the Gators lineup. He finished 15-6 in dual doubles and 8-3 in league action. He was 10-2 at No. 3 doubles. Crawford was also named the 2019 SEC All-Tournament team.
Andrade nabbed his first All-SEC honors as he clinched four matches for Florida, three in SEC play. He recorded a singles record of 15-7 rotating between the No. 2 and No. 3 positions. The sophomore was 9-3 in SEC singles action and earned four wins over nationally ranked opponents.
For the second-consecutive season, Ingildsen has been named to the All-SEC Second-Team. The junior recorded a team-best 17 regular season dual singles wins and went 9-3 in SEC action. He also clinched a team-high five matches, including a 6-1 victory over South Carolina that sealed the 2019 SEC Regular Season Championship for the Gators. He is also 11-7 in doubles and went 6-3 in conference play.
In his Gators' debut, Greif has put up an 11-1 dual singles record and went 8-1 in SEC regular season play. He is 8-1 at No. 5 and 3-0 at No. 6. The freshman clinched four matches for the Gators including victories over ranked top-20 opponents in TCU, Tennessee and Texas A&M.
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