MADISON, Wis. – In their first meeting since 1998, the No. 3 Florida men's tennis team came up short against No. 5 North Carolina, 4-0, in a highly-anticipated ITA National Team Indoors quarterfinals match on Saturday, as the fourth-seeded and fifth-ranked Tar Heels (9-0) claimed the doubles point over UF for just the first time this season, while building on a heady start in singles to come away with the clinch in Madison, Wis. UF drops to 10-2 on the season, suffering its second loss to a top-10 opponent this year, while UNC advances to face top-seeded No. 2 Ohio State in Sunday's semifinals action.
 
The fifth-seeded Gators will go on to conclude the weekend in Madison with another top-10 matchup with No. 6 Wake Forest on Sunday, Feb. 16, at 4:30 p.m. ET. In their last meeting, the Gators dropped the then-defending national champion Demon Deacons last year, 5-2, at the Alfred A. Ring Complex on Mar. 13.
 
The Tar Heels, who entered Saturday's match undefeated in doubles (13-0), came out on the attack in doubles action, posing immediate threats on both courts one and three early on before going on to pull away and end UF's 11-match doubles point streak.
 
North Carolina brought in the first doubles victory on court three, as UNC's Hijikata and Siguoin blazed through juniors Duarte Vale and Josh Goodger, 6-0, to erase the Gators' seven-match win streak and hand the pair their first loss of the year. UF's No. 2 tandem of No. 24 Will Grant and Johannes Ingildsen held their own against the nation's third-ranked duo, deadlocked at 5-5 late, while No. 13-ranked Oliver Crawford and Sam Riffice trailed on court one to UNC's Blumberg and Cernoch.
 
Down 3-5, Crawford and Riffice would hold to cut the deficit to one game, grinding the Tar Heels to a 40-40 deuce point, though, Blumberg would manage to hold on and finish the match off for Carolina, 6-4. The loss cuts Crawford and Riffice's six-match win streak, also serving as the first loss for the No. 1 duo this season.
 
North Carolina wouldn't let up in singles, grabbing five first-set wins decisively prior to ringing in the first three singles wins on courts five, one and three respectively. Despite the losses, Sam Riffice was the lone bright spot, tallying a first-set win (6-3) over No. 60 Siguoin, though, he would drop the second prior to UNC clinching in the end.
 
UNC's Brian Cernoch was the first to get things started, handing senior Johannes Ingildsen his first loss of the year in a straight-set effort to the tune of 6-1, 6-1 in No. 5 singles. The loss moves Ingildsen to 5-1 overall on the season, while slipping to 2-1 at the No. 5 position.
 
No. 23 Crawford picked up a challenging matchup in UNC's William Blumberg, a NCAA singles finalist in 2017, at No. 1 singles, as Blumberg hopped out to a decisive 6-2 effort in the first set. After Crawford climbed back to knot the frame at 3-3 in the second set, Blumberg went on to outlast Crawford, 6-2, 6-3, to add UNC's third point of the match.
 
Meanwhile, No. 11 Duarte Vale battled hard in No. 3 singles against Hijikata, just narrowly coming up short in the first set to the Tar Heel, 6-4. With a near identical start to the second set, Vale was able to reel in the margin to one game (4-5), but again came up just short to Hijikata, 6-4, 6-4, to seal UNC's berth into Sunday's semifinals. The loss serves as Vale's second on the year (9-2), ending a team-high seven-match win streak for the junior.
 
QUOTABLES
 
Head Coach Bryan Shelton:
On today's match and improving going forward…
"North Carolina played outstanding tennis today from top to bottom. Our guys really fought hard and we knew that it wasn't going to be easy. UNC's first strikes with serve and return made the difference for them today and helped them to get leads and play more freely. Our guys understand that we have to continue to improve in these areas. We will look forward to doing better tomorrow [versus Wake Forest]."
 
UP NEXT:

• The Gators will conclude ITA National Team Indoors play with No. 6 Wake Forest (8-2) – who lost to No. 2 Ohio State, 4-3 - in part of Sunday's consolation matches, slated for a 4:30 p.m. ET start on Feb. 16.

 
#3 University of Florida 0, #5 North Carolina 4
 
Singles competition – 5, 1, 3 (Order of finish)
1. William Blumberg (UNC) def. #23 Oliver Crawford (UF) 6-2, 6-3
2. #60 Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) vs. #4 Sam Riffice (UF) 3-6, 6-3, unfinished
3. Rinky Hijikata (UNC) def. #11 Duarte Vale (UF) 6-4, 6-4
4. #80 Josh Peck (UNC) vs. Andy Andrade (UF) 6-3, 4-5, unfinished
5. Brian Cernoch (UNC) def. Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 6-1, 6-1
6. Simon Soendergaard (UNC) vs. #112 Blaise Bicknell (UF) 6-3, 5-4, unfinished
 
Doubles competition – 3, 1 (Order of finish)
1. William Blumberg/Brian Cernoch (UNC) def. #13 Oliver Crawford/Sam Riffice (UF) 6-4
2. #3 Mac Kiger/Simon Soendergaard (UNC) vs. #24 Will Grant/Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 5-5, unfinished
3. Rinky Hijikata/Benjamin Sigouin def. Duarte Vale/Josh Goodger (UF) 6-0