AUSTIN, Texas – No. 9 Florida (3-1) fell to No. 6 Texas (4-0), 4-3, in the final round of the ITA Kickoff Weekend on Saturday in Austin, Texas.
In a dual match which spanned more than six hours thanks to countless delays, the Gators were bounced by the hosts of their pod after a tightly-contested three-set match between
Sam Riffice and Eliot Spizzirri, in which Riffice fell, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6.
UF won the doubles point with wins by duos
Duarte Vale and Riffice, as well as
Andy Andrade and
Will Grant.
Following doubles, the match was hit with an hourlong rain delay. After about 30 minutes of singles action, matches were paused again for 10 minutes to dry the courts.
Play resumed and most of the matches carried on to completion except for the three-set contests between Riffice and Spizzirri, as well as
Blaise Bicknell and Evin McDonald.
Play was delayed once more at 6:35 p.m. ET and did not resume until 8:40 p.m. ET after the final two matches were moved to the indoor courts.
From there, Bicknell handled his opponent with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory.
That would set up the third set between Riffice and Spizzirri as the dual match decider, where Spizzirri would wind up victorious.
Florida will now look to bounce back with a trip to UCF on Friday, followed by a match at FSU on Jan. 31.
Singles Results: 3, 4, 5, 1, 6, 2
1. #57 Siem Woldeab (UT) def.
#12 Duarte Vale (UF) 7-5, 7-5
2. #120 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def.
#8 Sam Riffice (UF) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
3.
#85 Andy Andrade (UF) def. #78 Micah Braswell (UT) 6-3, 6-0
4. Cleeve Harper (UT) def.
Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 6-2, 6-2
5. Chih Chi Huang (UT) def.
Ben Shelton (UF) 6-4, 7-6 (7-3)
6.
#68 Blaise Bicknell (UF) def. Evin McDonald (UT) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
Doubles Results: 1, 3
1.
#45 Duarte Vale/Sam Riffice (UF) def. Eliot Spizzirri/Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-2
2. Payton Holden/Chih Chi Huang (UT) vs.
Johannes Ingildsen/Ben Shelton (UF) 5-4, *
unfinished*
3.
Andy Andrade/Will Grant (UF) def. Micah Braswell/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-2
Follow along with the Gators on
Facebook,
Instagram,
Twitter and on the web at
FloridaGators.com.
