Bought-In Gators on Brink of Program's Greatest Season

Senior McClain Kessler took his turn in the UF hype huddle during Saturday's NCAA Super Region match against rival Tennessee.

Bought-In Gators on Brink of Program's Greatest Season

Wednesday, May 15, 2019 | Men's Tennis, Chris Harry

By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The difference is a subtle one, unless you happen to be the Florida men's tennis coach. For Bryan Shelton it's a variance that speaks to the maturation and commitment of a program looking very much the part of one serious about making history.

Shelton used to gather his team at the completion of the doubles point and remind his players of their individual game plans heading into the singles phase of dual matches. Now in his seventh UF season, the break between doubles and singles has evolved into a players-only gathering, which is totally fine with the coach.

"I'm not even in the huddle anymore," Shelton said. "I love it."

Maybe it's sophomore Oliver Crawford doing most of the talking. Crawford, after all, does a bunch of talking to the fans during home matches making sure they're fired up and into the match. Maybe it's senior McClain Kessler. He was a freshman back in 2016, a rookie on a team trying to bounce back from a first-round NCAA Tournament exit the year before. Maybe it's freshman Sam Riffice, who despite first-year status has logged all 31 of his singles matches this season at Nos. 2 or 3.

"We don't get too phased whether we win or lose the doubles points," Crawford said. "Either way, each of us knows our job is to get focused on the next match — whether you're playing or not — and to bring the energy from the get-go."

Such will be the charge for the fourth-ranked Gators (24-3) Thursday night when they take on sixth-ranked Baylor (25-5) in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships at USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla. Surviving the Elite Eight round would mean a berth in the national semifinals, a place the UF men have ventured only twice — and not since the 2005 season — in the program's 119-year history.

The Gators have never reached the NCAA finals, meaning they're approaching uncharted territory. And yet?

"We all feel we should go all the way and win the whole thing … and I've never, ever felt that way," Kessler said. "In fact, I would be shocked if we didn't."

Pretty bold statement, considering No. 1 Ohio State, not to mention No. 5 Virginia, winner of four of the previous six NCAA tournaments, are in the field, albeit on the other side of the bracket. Potential opponents, however, aren't on the Gators' collective minds. They'll be locked in on the Bears, champions of the Big 12, but even more so locked in on themselves, which is the approach that enabled them to roll to 18 victories over the previous 19 matches. The hiccup along the way was a bad one, coming on their home court in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, courtesy of rival Tennessee, with the Volunteers celebrating the upset by mocking their hosts with multiple Gator chomps (along with some verbal catcalls).

Sophomore **Duarte Vale** reached down deep for the match-clinching victory at No. 5 singles in the NCAA Super Regional against Tennessee Saturday. (Photo: Dakota Williams/UAA Communications)

The sting of that defeat, however, was wiped away Saturday when UF ousted UT in the Sweet 16 round with a 4-2 win in an epic test of wills. In sweltering conditions, the Gators took the doubles point and jumped to a 3-1 lead, but soon found themselves up just a single point and losing the two remaining matches, with Crawford fighting through a turned ankle suffered in the third set on Court 1.

That was when sophomore Duarte Vale, having battled to take the second set after dropping the first, mustered every ounce of competitive juice in his 5-foot-11, 179-pound body to outlast Preston Touliatos for a 10-8 win in a third-set tie breaker that unleashed an emotional orange and blue dog pile in the northeast corner of Scott Linder Stadium.

Twice in the tiebreaker Vale had match points, only to double fault the first and lose the second on an unforced error. He battled on.

"In the moment, it's really frustrating. Late in the match, it's so much pressure, but you just have to let it go," Duarte said. "It happens. It happens to the best players in the world, so you just have to forgive yourself and focus on what you can do to get the next point. Like Coach [Shelton] always says, that's all you can do. You can't guarantee a win against any player, but you can guarantee how you respond to whatever happens in the match."

It's a common talking point for a coach — move on; next play — but it's also one that's not always (or easily) heeded, even by some of the best athletes. Take Duarte, for example. Last year, in similar circumstances, he may have found his mind drifting to what was going on at other courts.

Not this year.

"We're more experienced," Duarte said. "We're all just better prepared."

In 2018, the Gators were in the identical place they are right now through three NCAA rounds. Getting to that Elite Eight, though, was hardly the same bloodbath as the path of 2019. Last year, UF went 19-10 for the season and, at No. 13, had a war in the Sweet 16 round against 38th-ranked Ole Miss before advancing with a 4-3 victory. Florida ultimately, 4-3, to fifth-ranked Texas A&M in the quarters.

In 2019, the Gators are not just five wins better (and one victory from equaling the second-most victories in program history), but several players deeper. In Riffice and Lukas Greif, UF added a pair of freshmen who got into the mix immediately and were needed when senior Alfredo Perez, their most experienced player coming into the season, missed the entire fall campaign after undergoing wrist surgery last summer. Perez's return in January, and his eventual rollout, was incremental, which allowed Shelton to tinker with the lineup and give different players opportunities, which also forged a stronger overall bond.

More players were contributing to the team's success.

"Most teams have six guys and that's it," Shelton said.

The Gators have come a long way since 2013, their first under Coach **Bryan Shelton** (above), when they lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on the home court against Denver. Six years later, UF's 24 victories is the third-most in program history and the Gators are in the Elite Eight for the second straight season with a legitimate chance to reach the Final Four for only the third time. (Photo: Dakota Williams/UAA Communications)

Case in point: Kessler owns a career record of 81-35 in singles, yet when Florida's NCAA lineup had to be turned into for the pre-tournament deadline he was listed eighth. He didn't like it. And neither did junior Johannes Ingildsen when Shelton yanked him out of No. 3 singles before the Tennessee match — Ingildsen had lost in straight sets to Vols No. 3 Scott Jones in the SEC Tournament — and moved four players below him each up a spot.

Neither Ingildsen nor Kessler hid their displeasure — "I think they're still bitter about it," Shelton said — but both opted to focus on the bigger picture. The two spoke before the UT match when they would be paired together in No. 1 doubles against the team of Touliatos and Timo Stodder, ranked No. 6 in the country. The Ingildsen/Kessler duo was not ranked.

"We both thought we should be playing singles, but it was Coach's decision," Kessler said. "We talked about it and just decided we had a real opportunity. We were going to play the No. 6 doubles team and had to do what we had to do. This was the NCAAs and not a time to be upset about the lineup. We had to do everything we could."

For Kessler, only the end of his college career was in the balance.

After losing the doubles point in each of the two previous Tennessee matches, the Gators clinched the pivotal doubles point on Court 1 in the third meeting, where Ingildsen and Kessler prevailed 6-4.

From there, the Florida team gathered — players only, arms locked — and vowed to release the energy.

Now, the next huddle awaits.

Maybe destiny does, as well.

"These guys are so bought in that they never want to leave the court," Shelton said. "When we say, 'OK, one more practice,' they say, 'Coach, can we do a second practice?' They're so driven that I've been able to sit back and allow them to take more ownership and, really, I've done less. It's funny. Other years, it's coaching, coaching, coaching, coaching — and we're still coaching, but it's not the same. This team is different."

Because it just might be Florida's best ever.