Friday, March 18
Gainesville, Fla.
5 PM
Florida Gators
vs
Ole Miss
Florida Welcomes No. 31 Ole Miss, No. 28 Mississippi State to Town
Thursday, March 17, 2022 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 1 Florida Gators men's tennis team continues conference play at home this week as it hosts No. 31 Ole Miss on Friday, March 18 at 5 p.m. and No. 28 Mississippi State on Sunday, March 20 at 1 p.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
The Gators (12-2, 4-0 SEC) are one of two teams who remain undefeated in SEC play heading into the weekend. After picking up a 7-0 sweep in Wednesday's midweek match against No. 69 Illinois, Florida tallied its ninth ranked win of the season, with two more opportunities coming up this week to add to that total.
Florida started last night's match with a thrilling doubles competition. Illinois would take the first doubles match at court two, turning all eyes to courts one and three to secure the doubles point for the Gators.
On court three, the duo of Nate Bonetto and Duarte Vale were able to tie the Illini duo 5-5, before winning the next two games for a 7-5 victory. Then, Gators Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton clinched the doubles point after an exciting tiebreaker victory at court one against the No. 35 team in the country, 7-6 (7). Florida has now won the doubles point in seven consecutive matches dating back to the match against No. 7 Virginia at the ITA Indoor Championships on Feb. 19.
The Gators also won all six singles matches in dominant fashion as the team never dropped a set. Freshman Abedallah Shelbayh collected his third dual match singles win at court six with a win over Nic Meister, 6-2, 6-1. No. 56 Riffice followed with his second ranked win of the evening after defeating No. 62 Olivier Stuart at two singles.
The No. 93-ranked senior, Andy Andrade, was the Gator who clinched the match with a win on court four over No. 117 Hunter Heck with two 6-4 scores. The next winner came at court three as No. 109 Vale overtook Alex Brown, 7-5, 6-2. The Gators went up 6-0 with a victory on court one when No. 1 Shelton defeated Siphosothando Montsi, 6-3, 7-5, for his second ranked win of the night. No. 119 Bonetto would complete the sweep for Florida with a win at court five over Gabrielius Guzauskas, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
The Gators boast an impressive 54-18 overall dual match singles record, as Shelton and Andrade lead the team with 11 and 10 dual singles wins, respectively. Shelton also won his second career SEC Player of the Week award on Wednesday after his undefeated heroics against Georgia and Tennessee. He is the first Gator in program history to win the honor in back-to-back weeks.
Scouting the Opponents
Florida's first opponent, No. 31 Ole Miss, holds an 11-5 record and are 1-2 in conference play as the Gators lead the Rebels 42-22 in program history. Ole Miss comes into Friday's match with a couple of ranked wins as they defeated No. 22 Oklahoma, 4-1, and No. 12 Texas A&M, 4-2.
Just like Florida, the Rebels qualified for the ITA Indoor Championships back in February, where they lost to No. 3 Baylor, 1-4, and No. 11 USC by the same score. Most recently, Ole Miss dropped their matches to No. 2 Tennessee, 1-6, and No. 50 LSU, 2-5, but collected a win in Tuscaloosa against Alabama, 6-1. Ole Miss has two players ranked in singles with Nikola Slavic at No. 21 and Jan Soren Hain at No. 104, and also have the No. 2 doubles team in the nation of Lukas Engelhardt and Finn Reynolds.
Mississippi State currently has an 11-6 record and are 1-3 in the SEC. The Gators hold an all-time advantage of 42-20 over the Bulldogs coming into Sunday's matchup. MSU has wins over Middle Tennessee, who is now ranked 19th by the ITA, Arkansas and LSU. Some notable losses have come against Kentucky, Florida State, Tennessee and Georgia, all opponents the Gators have collected a win over.
There are two Bulldogs ranked in singles as Florian Broska comes in at No. 25 and Nemanja Malesevic checks in at No. 81. MSU's doubles team of Nemanja Malesevic and Davide Tortora are ranked No. 65 by the ITA.
Mississippi State has a match against South Carolina this Friday before heading to Gainesville for their contest against the Gators.
Opponents in the rankings
Singles
Ole Miss
No. 21 Nikola Slavic
No. 104 Jan Soren Hain
Mississippi State
No. 25 Florian Broska
No. 81 Nemanja Malesevic
Doubles
Ole Miss
No. 2 Lukas Engelhardt/Finn Reynolds
Mississippi State
No. 65 Nemanja Malesevic/Davide Tortora
Gators in the rankings
Singles
No. 1 Ben Shelton
No. 56 Sam Riffice
No. 93 Andy Andrade
No. 109 Duarte Vale
No. 119 Nate Bonetto
Doubles
No. 33 Abedallah Shelbayh/Mattias Siimar
No. 54 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar
No. 79 Andy Andrade/Duarte Vale
PARKING / WEATHER / ATTENDANCE
Parking restrictions for only the green lot next to the complex will be lifted for the matches.
In the event of inclement weather, the match will be moved indoors where attendance is limited. Seats indoors will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Live stats and live video will not be available at the indoor facility, so all stat updates will come from GatorsMTN Twitter.
Admission into the event is free. The first 100 fans in attendance for the Ole Miss match will receive a Florida Gators bucket hat. In addition, the first 100 fans at the Mississippi State match will receive tailgate aprons.
FOLLOW ALONG
There are multiple ways to follow along with the matches this weekend.
Cracked Racquets and the SEC Network announced a partnership for Redzone coverage on all Friday matches for the remainder of the season. The link to watch these broadcasts can be found here.
All home Florida matches are available to watch on PlaySight, while fans can also follow the live stats link on Sidearm during the matches.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
The Gators (12-2, 4-0 SEC) are one of two teams who remain undefeated in SEC play heading into the weekend. After picking up a 7-0 sweep in Wednesday's midweek match against No. 69 Illinois, Florida tallied its ninth ranked win of the season, with two more opportunities coming up this week to add to that total.
Florida started last night's match with a thrilling doubles competition. Illinois would take the first doubles match at court two, turning all eyes to courts one and three to secure the doubles point for the Gators.
On court three, the duo of Nate Bonetto and Duarte Vale were able to tie the Illini duo 5-5, before winning the next two games for a 7-5 victory. Then, Gators Sam Riffice and Ben Shelton clinched the doubles point after an exciting tiebreaker victory at court one against the No. 35 team in the country, 7-6 (7). Florida has now won the doubles point in seven consecutive matches dating back to the match against No. 7 Virginia at the ITA Indoor Championships on Feb. 19.
The Gators also won all six singles matches in dominant fashion as the team never dropped a set. Freshman Abedallah Shelbayh collected his third dual match singles win at court six with a win over Nic Meister, 6-2, 6-1. No. 56 Riffice followed with his second ranked win of the evening after defeating No. 62 Olivier Stuart at two singles.
The No. 93-ranked senior, Andy Andrade, was the Gator who clinched the match with a win on court four over No. 117 Hunter Heck with two 6-4 scores. The next winner came at court three as No. 109 Vale overtook Alex Brown, 7-5, 6-2. The Gators went up 6-0 with a victory on court one when No. 1 Shelton defeated Siphosothando Montsi, 6-3, 7-5, for his second ranked win of the night. No. 119 Bonetto would complete the sweep for Florida with a win at court five over Gabrielius Guzauskas, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
The Gators boast an impressive 54-18 overall dual match singles record, as Shelton and Andrade lead the team with 11 and 10 dual singles wins, respectively. Shelton also won his second career SEC Player of the Week award on Wednesday after his undefeated heroics against Georgia and Tennessee. He is the first Gator in program history to win the honor in back-to-back weeks.
Scouting the Opponents
Florida's first opponent, No. 31 Ole Miss, holds an 11-5 record and are 1-2 in conference play as the Gators lead the Rebels 42-22 in program history. Ole Miss comes into Friday's match with a couple of ranked wins as they defeated No. 22 Oklahoma, 4-1, and No. 12 Texas A&M, 4-2.
Just like Florida, the Rebels qualified for the ITA Indoor Championships back in February, where they lost to No. 3 Baylor, 1-4, and No. 11 USC by the same score. Most recently, Ole Miss dropped their matches to No. 2 Tennessee, 1-6, and No. 50 LSU, 2-5, but collected a win in Tuscaloosa against Alabama, 6-1. Ole Miss has two players ranked in singles with Nikola Slavic at No. 21 and Jan Soren Hain at No. 104, and also have the No. 2 doubles team in the nation of Lukas Engelhardt and Finn Reynolds.
Mississippi State currently has an 11-6 record and are 1-3 in the SEC. The Gators hold an all-time advantage of 42-20 over the Bulldogs coming into Sunday's matchup. MSU has wins over Middle Tennessee, who is now ranked 19th by the ITA, Arkansas and LSU. Some notable losses have come against Kentucky, Florida State, Tennessee and Georgia, all opponents the Gators have collected a win over.
There are two Bulldogs ranked in singles as Florian Broska comes in at No. 25 and Nemanja Malesevic checks in at No. 81. MSU's doubles team of Nemanja Malesevic and Davide Tortora are ranked No. 65 by the ITA.
Mississippi State has a match against South Carolina this Friday before heading to Gainesville for their contest against the Gators.
Opponents in the rankings
Singles
Ole Miss
No. 21 Nikola Slavic
No. 104 Jan Soren Hain
Mississippi State
No. 25 Florian Broska
No. 81 Nemanja Malesevic
Doubles
Ole Miss
No. 2 Lukas Engelhardt/Finn Reynolds
Mississippi State
No. 65 Nemanja Malesevic/Davide Tortora
Gators in the rankings
Singles
No. 1 Ben Shelton
No. 56 Sam Riffice
No. 93 Andy Andrade
No. 109 Duarte Vale
No. 119 Nate Bonetto
Doubles
No. 33 Abedallah Shelbayh/Mattias Siimar
No. 54 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar
No. 79 Andy Andrade/Duarte Vale
PARKING / WEATHER / ATTENDANCE
Parking restrictions for only the green lot next to the complex will be lifted for the matches.
In the event of inclement weather, the match will be moved indoors where attendance is limited. Seats indoors will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Live stats and live video will not be available at the indoor facility, so all stat updates will come from GatorsMTN Twitter.
Admission into the event is free. The first 100 fans in attendance for the Ole Miss match will receive a Florida Gators bucket hat. In addition, the first 100 fans at the Mississippi State match will receive tailgate aprons.
FOLLOW ALONG
There are multiple ways to follow along with the matches this weekend.
Cracked Racquets and the SEC Network announced a partnership for Redzone coverage on all Friday matches for the remainder of the season. The link to watch these broadcasts can be found here.
All home Florida matches are available to watch on PlaySight, while fans can also follow the live stats link on Sidearm during the matches.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
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/ Men's Tennis
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/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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