Sunday, April 17
Gainesville, Fla.
12:30 PM
Florida Gators
vs
Texas A&M
Gators Host No. 21 Texas A&M for Senior Day on Sunday
Friday, April 15, 2022 | Men's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Hosting one more regular-season match on the year, the No. 3 Florida Gators men's tennis team (19-2, 11-0 SEC), who is coming off their third-consecutive SEC Championship with a victory at No. 27 Auburn last weekend, welcomes the No. 21 Texas A&M Aggies (21-10, 7-3 SEC) for Senior Day on Sunday, April 17 at 12:30 p.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
Five Gator seniors will be honored for Senior Day as the group of Andy Andrade, Josh Goodger, Sam Riffice, Mattias Siimar and Duarte Vale will play in their last regular-season match with the Orange & Blue. These five Gators helped Florida win three SEC titles, with an overall conference record of 49-4, and the program's first ever team national championship. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to help honor this historic senior class in one of their last home matches of their careers.
Last weekend, the Gators stayed undefeated in conference play with two road wins at Alabama and No. 27 Auburn, clinching the SEC title with a victory over the Tigers for the team's third conference championship in a row and 12th overall.
Florida has won 14-straight matches and 14-consecutive doubles points as the team now totals 15 wins against ranked opponents. Coming into Sunday's match, the Gators are a perfect 9-0 at home and look to stay undefeated at The Ring.
A few Gators are on winning streaks as Riffice has won 12 singles matches in a row, Goodger has won seven and Andrade has won six-straight. In doubles, Andrade and Siimar are on a seven-match win streak, while the duo of Riffice and Ben Shelton have won four in a row.
On Wednesday, the ITA released its weekly rankings as the Gators had a nation-high tying six players ranked in singles. In addition, three doubles teams found themselves in the rankings. Shelton holds steady at the No. 1 singles spot, followed by Riffice at No. 23, Vale at No. 86, Andrade at No. 89, Siimar at No. 103 and Goodger rounding out the rankings at No. 113. In doubles, Riffice and Shelton jumped to No. 7, their highest ranking together, while Andrade and Siimar sit at No. 28 and Siimar and Abedallah Shelbayh are ranked No. 62.
Scouting the Opponent
No. 21 Texas A&M comes into the match with a 21-10 overall record and a 7-3 SEC record. Sunday's match marks only the 21st meeting between the two squads as TAMU leads with 13 wins. Both teams last met in the 2021 NCAA Championship quarterfinals on May 20, 2021 when the Gators pulled out a clutch, 4-1, victory after dropping the doubles point.
The Aggies have wins over UCLA, Arizona, Vanderbilt and Georgia, and also qualified for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships back in February where they went 0-3 with loses against Tennessee, Stanford and Ole Miss. Aggie Noah Schachter highlights the ITA rankings as he is ranked in singles and with two doubles teams. Schachter sits at No. 41 in singles, while the teams of Schachter and Kenner Taylor as well as Schachter and Austin Abbrat are ranked No. 20 and No. 49, respectively.
Texas A&M in the Rankings
Singles
No. 41 Noah Schachter
Doubles
No. 20 Noah Schachter/Kenner Taylor
No. 49 Austin Abbrat/Noah Schachter
Gators in the Rankings
Singles
No. 1 Ben Shelton
No. 23 Sam Riffice
No. 86 Duarte Vale
No. 89 Andy Andrade
No. 103 Mattias Siimar
No. 113 Josh Goodger
Doubles
No. 7 Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton
No. 28 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar
No. 62 Abedallah Shelbayh/Mattias Siimar
PARKING / WEATHER / ATTENDANCE
Parking restrictions for only the green lot next to the complex will be lifted for the match.
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. There will be giveaways for fans in attendance, including free team and NCAA Championship posters. Fans will also have a chance to take pictures with the National Championship and SEC trophies. In addition, Easter eggs filled with candy will be spread throughout the seats at the Ring Complex.
FOLLOW ALONG
The match will be available to watch on PlaySight, while fans can also follow the live stats link on Sidearm.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Five Gator seniors will be honored for Senior Day as the group of Andy Andrade, Josh Goodger, Sam Riffice, Mattias Siimar and Duarte Vale will play in their last regular-season match with the Orange & Blue. These five Gators helped Florida win three SEC titles, with an overall conference record of 49-4, and the program's first ever team national championship. Fans are encouraged to arrive early to help honor this historic senior class in one of their last home matches of their careers.
Last weekend, the Gators stayed undefeated in conference play with two road wins at Alabama and No. 27 Auburn, clinching the SEC title with a victory over the Tigers for the team's third conference championship in a row and 12th overall.
Florida has won 14-straight matches and 14-consecutive doubles points as the team now totals 15 wins against ranked opponents. Coming into Sunday's match, the Gators are a perfect 9-0 at home and look to stay undefeated at The Ring.
A few Gators are on winning streaks as Riffice has won 12 singles matches in a row, Goodger has won seven and Andrade has won six-straight. In doubles, Andrade and Siimar are on a seven-match win streak, while the duo of Riffice and Ben Shelton have won four in a row.
On Wednesday, the ITA released its weekly rankings as the Gators had a nation-high tying six players ranked in singles. In addition, three doubles teams found themselves in the rankings. Shelton holds steady at the No. 1 singles spot, followed by Riffice at No. 23, Vale at No. 86, Andrade at No. 89, Siimar at No. 103 and Goodger rounding out the rankings at No. 113. In doubles, Riffice and Shelton jumped to No. 7, their highest ranking together, while Andrade and Siimar sit at No. 28 and Siimar and Abedallah Shelbayh are ranked No. 62.
Scouting the Opponent
No. 21 Texas A&M comes into the match with a 21-10 overall record and a 7-3 SEC record. Sunday's match marks only the 21st meeting between the two squads as TAMU leads with 13 wins. Both teams last met in the 2021 NCAA Championship quarterfinals on May 20, 2021 when the Gators pulled out a clutch, 4-1, victory after dropping the doubles point.
The Aggies have wins over UCLA, Arizona, Vanderbilt and Georgia, and also qualified for the ITA National Team Indoor Championships back in February where they went 0-3 with loses against Tennessee, Stanford and Ole Miss. Aggie Noah Schachter highlights the ITA rankings as he is ranked in singles and with two doubles teams. Schachter sits at No. 41 in singles, while the teams of Schachter and Kenner Taylor as well as Schachter and Austin Abbrat are ranked No. 20 and No. 49, respectively.
Texas A&M in the Rankings
Singles
No. 41 Noah Schachter
Doubles
No. 20 Noah Schachter/Kenner Taylor
No. 49 Austin Abbrat/Noah Schachter
Gators in the Rankings
Singles
No. 1 Ben Shelton
No. 23 Sam Riffice
No. 86 Duarte Vale
No. 89 Andy Andrade
No. 103 Mattias Siimar
No. 113 Josh Goodger
Doubles
No. 7 Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton
No. 28 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar
No. 62 Abedallah Shelbayh/Mattias Siimar
PARKING / WEATHER / ATTENDANCE
Parking restrictions for only the green lot next to the complex will be lifted for the match.
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. There will be giveaways for fans in attendance, including free team and NCAA Championship posters. Fans will also have a chance to take pictures with the National Championship and SEC trophies. In addition, Easter eggs filled with candy will be spread throughout the seats at the Ring Complex.
FOLLOW ALONG
The match will be available to watch on PlaySight, while fans can also follow the live stats link on Sidearm.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
/ Men's Tennis
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