Gators Are Seattle Bound After Defeating Florida State, 4-1

Sunday, January 30

Gainesville, Fla.

2 PM

Florida Gators

Florida State

Gators Are Seattle Bound After Defeating Florida State, 4-1

Sunday, January 30, 2022 | Men's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Casey Montalvo

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – With a 4-1 victory over in-state rival, Florida State, the No. 3 Florida Gators qualified for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle on Sunday afternoon at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.

Starting with doubles play, the Seminoles took an early 1-0 lead after winning two of three matches against the Gators. Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton would easily win their match against Sebastian Arcila and Loris Pourroy, 6-1, to give Florida a slight advantage.

FSU quickly recovered to even the score when Andreja Petrovic and Youcef Rihane defeated Abedallah Shelbayh and Duarte Vale on court two.
The No. 55 duo of Nate Bonetto and Lukas Greif were in a battle on court three against Josh Karpenschif and Maks Silagy, tying the match at 5-5. But, the Seminoles would come back to win 7-5 and clinch the doubles point for their team.

To seal the match, the Gators needed to win four singles matches, and in an exciting battle that came down to Florida's first three courts, the Gators would win it with a 4-1 score.

The freshmen got the points going for Florida when No. 79 Bonetto and Shelbayh won at courts five and six, respectively.

Bonetto gave the Gators an early point after defeating Karpenschif in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0, moving to 2-0 in dual match play. He currently leads the team with 15 singles wins on the season.

Making his dual match debut in singles was freshman Shelbayh, who competed against Rihane at court six. The Gator also won in two, clinching the first set 6-3, then winning the match with a 7-5 second set.

With a 2-1 lead, Florida was looking at court four to claim the next point in what was a Round of 32 rematch of the ITA Southeast Regional tournament back in October. No. 107 Andy Andrade took on FSU's Richard Thongoana for the second time this season – dropping the first matchup to Thongoana in a heartbreaking, 3-plus hour long match during the fall.

Andrade got his revenge and the point.

The senior won set one, 6-3, before going back-and-forth in the second set with the Seminole. Andrade came back to tie the set at 5-5, before winning the next two games to take the match, 6-3, 7-5, and collect his 118^th career singles win in the process.

With a 3-1 advantage, the remaining three Gators were Riffice, Vale and Shelton. Riffice was down against Pourroy at court one, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 1-3, and No. 2 Shelton was up on Arcila at court three, 5-7, 6-3, 5-2, when senior Vale clinched the match at court two.

The senior captain made a heroic comeback for his team after dropping his first set against Petrovic, 6-1. The Gator came back to even the score with a 6-1 second set. Vale battled in the third, before coming up with a huge victory, 1-6, 6-1, 7-5.

In winning the match today, Florida advances to the ITA National Team Indoor Championships held in Seattle on Feb. 18-21.

Up next, the Gators are set for a rematch against Florida State next Saturday, Feb. 5 at 5 p.m. as the two teams compete in Lake Nona, Fla., at the USTA National Campus for College MatchDay.

SINGLES RESULTS
1. Sam Riffice (UF) vs. Loris Pourroy (FSU), 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 1-3, unfinished
2. Duarte Vale (UF) def. Andreja Petrovic (FSU), 1-6, 6-1, 7-5
3. #2 Ben Shelton (UF) vs. Sebastian Arcila (FSU), 5-7, 6-3, 5-2, unfinished
4. #107 Andy Andrade (UF) def. Richard Thongoana (FSU), 6-3, 7-5
5. #79 Nate Bonetto (UF) def. Josh Karpenschif (FSU), 6-2, 6-0
6. Abedallah Shelbayh (UF) def. Youcef Rihane (FSU), 6-3, 7-5
Order of Finish: 5, 6, 4, 2

DOUBLES RESULTS
1. Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton (UF) def. Sebastian Arcila/Loris Pourroy (FSU), 6-1
2. Andreja Petrovic/Youcef Rihane (FSU) def. Abedallah Shelbayh/Duarte Vale (UF), 6-2
3. Josh Karpenschif/Maks Silagy (FSU) def. #55 Nate Bonetto/Lukas Greif (UF), 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3

FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram