Shelton Earns Second Consecutive SEC Player of the Week Award
Wednesday, March 16, 2022 | Men's Tennis
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Sophomore Ben Shelton earned SEC Player of the Week for the second week in a row, as announced by the league office on Wednesday afternoon.
This is the first time in Florida men's tennis history the same Gator has been named SEC Player of the Week in two consecutive weeks. The last time any same individual collected the SEC honor in back-to-back weeks was South Carolina's Harrison O'Keefe in 2017. The Gators have now collected five SEC weekly awards on the season as Nate Bonetto has received two Freshman of the Week honors and Mattias Siimar was named Player of the Week in January.
Florida (11-2, 4-0 SEC) continued their dominance on the road this past weekend defeating another pair of top-10 opponents in No. 1 Tennessee and No. 8 Georgia. The Orange and Blue have played two top-10 teams in the same week four times and defeated both top-10 teams three times.
Shelton showcased why he's worthy of the No. 1 ranking by the ITA as he knocked off two top-20 opponents. He also helped secure doubles points in both Gators' victories from court one.
Against No. 8 Georgia, the pairing of Shelton and Sam Riffice helped secure the doubles point with a decisive 6-2 victory over No. 55 Tristan McCormick and Hamish Stewart. The Gainesville, Fla., native provided the match-clinching win in singles completing a 4-0 sweep of the Bulldogs. The sophomore faced off against No. 19 Stewart taking the first set by a score of 6-3, before dropping the next one, 4-6. Shelton was down early in the third set, but rallied back to win his match in three, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Finishing the weekend off with No. 1 Tennessee, the Shelton/Riffice duo clinched the doubles point over No. 16 Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui, 6-4. Shelton would then take on No. 18 Adam Walton tallying his fourth win at one singles with a huge three-set victory to take down the Volunteers, 5-2. The Gator took set one by a score of 6-3, before Walton forced a third. Shelton wasn't fazed as he gave up just one game in the final set to win the match, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
With his win against Walton, Shelton ranks first on the team with 13 ranked singles victories, while also leading the team with 21 singles wins on the season.
The Gators are set to face No. 69 Illinois this evening at 6 p.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
This is the first time in Florida men's tennis history the same Gator has been named SEC Player of the Week in two consecutive weeks. The last time any same individual collected the SEC honor in back-to-back weeks was South Carolina's Harrison O'Keefe in 2017. The Gators have now collected five SEC weekly awards on the season as Nate Bonetto has received two Freshman of the Week honors and Mattias Siimar was named Player of the Week in January.
Florida (11-2, 4-0 SEC) continued their dominance on the road this past weekend defeating another pair of top-10 opponents in No. 1 Tennessee and No. 8 Georgia. The Orange and Blue have played two top-10 teams in the same week four times and defeated both top-10 teams three times.
Shelton showcased why he's worthy of the No. 1 ranking by the ITA as he knocked off two top-20 opponents. He also helped secure doubles points in both Gators' victories from court one.
Against No. 8 Georgia, the pairing of Shelton and Sam Riffice helped secure the doubles point with a decisive 6-2 victory over No. 55 Tristan McCormick and Hamish Stewart. The Gainesville, Fla., native provided the match-clinching win in singles completing a 4-0 sweep of the Bulldogs. The sophomore faced off against No. 19 Stewart taking the first set by a score of 6-3, before dropping the next one, 4-6. Shelton was down early in the third set, but rallied back to win his match in three, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Finishing the weekend off with No. 1 Tennessee, the Shelton/Riffice duo clinched the doubles point over No. 16 Emile Hudd and Shunsuke Mitsui, 6-4. Shelton would then take on No. 18 Adam Walton tallying his fourth win at one singles with a huge three-set victory to take down the Volunteers, 5-2. The Gator took set one by a score of 6-3, before Walton forced a third. Shelton wasn't fazed as he gave up just one game in the final set to win the match, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
With his win against Walton, Shelton ranks first on the team with 13 ranked singles victories, while also leading the team with 21 singles wins on the season.
The Gators are set to face No. 69 Illinois this evening at 6 p.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
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