URBANA, Ill. – The No. 3 University of Florida men's tennis team earned a convincing 7-0 sweep over the Big Ten's Illinois at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Ill. on Friday night, as the win pushes a six-match win streak for the Gators upon picking up its first road win of the year. Once again, the Gators corralled the doubles point for the ninth straight match, while juniors Oliver Crawford, Duarte Vale and sophomore Sam Riffice tallied the first three singles wins over ranked opponents to clinch the match early on for the Gators. Florida moves to 8-1, while the Fighting Illini drop to 1-4 on the year in nonconference action.
 
The Gators hopped out to early leads in doubles, though, the Illini would make late pushes prior to UF coming away with wins in No. 1 and No. 3 doubles to secure the 1-0 advantage.
 
Juniors Duarte Vale and Josh Goodger remain an absolute force in No. 3 doubles, yet again handing their opponents a 6-3 loss in defeating Illinois' Lucas Horve and Vuk Budic. Vale and Goodger extend their win streak to five matches now, as the two remain unbeaten on the year (5-0).
 
No. 13-ranked Oliver Crawford and Sam Riffice would see a competitive top-50 matchup in Illinois' No. 43 Aleks Kovacevic and Alex Brown in No. 1 doubles, as they jumped out to a 4-2 advantage early on. The two pairs would exchange games before the Illini crept closer by cutting the deficit to one game, 5-4. However, the Gators would finish the job, as Riffice rocketed a serve that was too hot to handle for the Illlini, granting the Gators the 6-4 decision on court one.
 
Meanwhile, No. 24 Will Grant and Johannes Ingildsen's match on court two would go unfinished, holding a 5-3 lead prior to the clinch.
 
UF then came out aggressive in singles, notching five of the six first-set wins, though, Illinois showed fight on their home court in extending four of the six matches into three sets.
 
No. 23 Crawford was the first to add a point to the board for the Gators, handing No. 78 Kovacevic a loss in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to pick up a top-80 win and move to 3-1 on the year. No. 11 Duarte Vale followed in No. 2 singles with a straight-set decision over No. 91 Zeke Clark, 6-3, 6-4, to add his team-leading seventh dual win of the year, while extending a four-match win streak.
 
Though No. 4 Riffice (6-3), Andy Andrade (6-3) and No. 90 Lukas Greif (7-6 (1)) all grabbed first-set wins on their respective courts, things began to get interesting as they all dropped their second sets, in addition to senior Johannes Ingildsen falling victim to a 6-3 decision in No. 5 singles.
 
Nonetheless, Riffice would come out in the third set steaming in his top-20 matchup with No. 18 Alex Brown in No. 2 singles, going on to tally a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 decision to give Brown his first loss of the year and clinch the win for the blue and orange at 4-0. The remaining matches in No. 4, 5 and 6 singles would be played out as Andrade, Greif and Ingildsen all battled in three-set matches.
 
Ingildsen would be the first to finish, as the veteran would power through Illinois' Fletcher Scott, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, in the third to remain unbeaten at 5-0 on the year. Additionally, the win puts Ingildsen at just three wins shy of 100 for his career.
 
Shortly after Ingildsen would push the 5-0 margin, Greif and Andrade both locked things up in No. 6 and No. 4 singles respectively, as Greif pulled away over Horve, 7-6 (1), 0-6, 6-4, while Andrade notched a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory over No. 42 Siphosothando Montsi to earn a top-50 win and complete the sweep over the Fighting Illini.
 
UP NEXT:

• The No. 3 Gators finish out their road trip with another Big Ten opponent at Purdue on Sunday, Feb. 9, in West Lafayette, Ind. First serve is slated for 10 a.m.

 
Illinois 0, #3 University of Florida 7

Singles competition – 1, 3, 2, 5, 6, 4 (Order of finish)
1. #23 Oliver Crawford (UF) def. #78 Aleks Kovacevic (ILL) 6-3, 6-3
2. #4 Sam Riffice (UF) def. #18 Alex Brown (ILL) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
3. #11 Duarte Vale def. #91 Zeke Clark (ILL) 6-3, 6-4
4. Andy Andrade (UF) def. #48 Siphosothando Montsi (ILL) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
5. Johannes Ingildsen (UF) def. Fletcher Scott (ILL) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
6. #90 Lukas Greif (UF) def. Lucas Horve (ILL) 7-6 (1), 0-6, 6-4
 
Doubles competition – 3, 1 (Order of finish)
1. #13 Oliver Crawford/Sam Riffice (UF) def. #42 Aleks Kovacevic/Alex Brown (ILL) 6-4
2. Gui Gomes/Siphosothando Montsi (ILL) vs. #24 Will Grant/Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 3-5, unfinished
3. Duarte Vale/Josh Goodger (UF) def. Lucas Horve/Vuk Budic (ILL) 6-3