BOX SCORE
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – This scenario should sound familiar: up 3-1 against Tennessee at home and needing one more to clinch.
This time though, Florida clinched the match, 4-2, and went from sweet to elite.
The Gators advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals and will meet the Baylor Bears on Thursday at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla. The time for this match will be announced at the conclusion of the super regional matches.
After going up 3-1, Florida got the crowd's heart racing as the final three matches still in play were in a third set.
Oliver Crawford went down with an injury and had to take a medical point, but continued to battle Timo Stodder on Court 1. Then on Court 6,
Lukas Greif also went down and also had to take a medical point and tried to play through the pain, but his loss cut the Gators' lead to 1.
The fate of the match seemed to be in the hands of
Duarte Vale, who had dropped the first set, but forced a third. After going down 4-3, having match point at 5-4, dropping two games and going down again, 6-5, tied the match and sent it to tiebreak. In tiebreak, Vale jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the tiebreak, but Preston Touliatos rallied and Tennessee tied it once again at 6-all. The two held serve until Vale went up 9-8. Touliatos' serve return went just long, Vale fell to the court and the dog pile ensued.
Vale has now won 13 straight matches and improved to 15-1 on the season. He has also clinched two of the Gators' three matches in the NCAA Tournament.
From the beginning of the match, emotions were high in the crowd and on the court. In front of the packed stands at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis complex, Vale and partner
Andy Andrade did what they have lately, and that's take the doubles match on Court 3. After the Volunteers took Court 2 over
Alfredo Perez and
Sam Riffice, it was up to Court 1 to decide the point. Down a break,
McClain Kessler and
Johannes Ingildsen broke and took the lead and the match from the No. 6 ranked doubles duo and gave the Gators an early 1-0 advantage heading into singles.
Florida kept the pressure on through the first set, taking four of the six. Vale and Riffice were the only Gators to fall in the opening set.
Tennessee tied the match pretty quickly as Adam Walton defeated Riffice for the second time in two weeks. This time in two sets (6-3, 6-1).
However, Andrade avenged his SEC Tournament loss to Luca Wiedenmann a two-set victory (6-3, 6-2) to put Florida back in the lead, 2-1.
Perez extended the lead with a 7-5, 6-3 win on Court 3 and once again put his name in the record books.
The senior now sits tied for 10th, with Gordon Watson, on the all-time singles wins list with 94 career singles wins. His singles win also pushed him past Olivier Levant on the total wins list as he takes sole position of the No. 10 spot with 172 overall wins in his career with Florida.
Crawford's match with Stodder went unfinished, knotted at 4 in the third set.
Up next, the third-seeded Gators will meet the sixth-seeded Baylor Bears in the NCAA Quarterfinals on Thursday at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla. Times will be announced at a later time. For all the details regarding the final rounds and to buy tickets, please visit the
Tournament Headquarters for the USTA.
Florida sits at 6-6 all-time against Baylor with the last meeting taking place in Gainesville on Feb. 23, 2013. The Bears took the contest, 4-3, in head coach
Bryan Shelton's first season with Florida.
Final Results
#4 Florida 4, #14 Tennessee 2
Doubles-Order of Finish: 3,2,1
1.
Johannes Ingildsen/
McClain Kessler (UF) def. #6 Preston Touliatos/Timo Stodder (UT) 6-4
2. Pat Harper/Scott Jones (UT) def.
Alfredo Perez/
Sam Riffice (UF) 6-4
3.
Andy Andrade/
Duarte Vale (UF) def. Adam Walton/Andrew Rogers (UT) 6-3
Singles-Order of Finish: 2,4,3,6,5
1. #9
Oliver Crawford (UF) vs. #23 Timo Stodder (UT) 6-2, 4-6, 4-4, unfinished
2. #51 Adam Walton (UT) def. #54
Sam Riffice (UF) 6-3, 6-1
3.
Alfredo Perez (UF) def. Scott Jones (UT) 7-5, 6-3
4. #59 Andres Andrade (UF) def. Luca Wiedenmann (UT) 6-3, 6-2
5. #90
Duarte Vale (UF) def. Preston Touliatos (UT) 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (10-8)
6. Andrew Rogers (UT) def.
Lukas Greif (UF) 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2
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