Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – After taking down New Orleans and Miami in the NCAA First and Second Rounds, the No. 2 Florida Gators will face No. 15 North Carolina in the Gainesville Super Regional on Friday, May 13 at 5 p.m.

Florida is one of six seeded teams to sweep both of their opponents in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament – joining Virginia, TCU, Michigan, Ohio State and Texas.

In addition, three Gators went undefeated during the two matches as Sam Riffice and Duarte Vale both won two singles and doubles matches, while Josh Goodger won both of his singles matches and clinched the contests against the Privateers and Hurricanes.

Florida has five players ranked in singles and three teams ranked in doubles. Ben Shelton is the highest-ranked Gator, checking in at No. 2, while Riffice follows at No. 28. Vale is next at No. 115, Andy Andrade sits at No. 117 and Goodger rounds out the singles rankings at No. 119. In doubles, Riffice and Shelton boast their highest ranking together at No. 5, Andrade and Mattias Siimar are ranked No. 65, and Siimar and Abedallah Shelbayh check in at No. 59.

Riffice and Shelton both qualified for the NCAA Individual Championships as they will compete in singles and doubles competition. Shelton comes in as the No. 1 overall seed in singles, while the duo is a 5-8 seed in doubles.

Scouting the Opponent
North Carolina (18-8, 9-3 ACC) has been on a hot streak lately as the Tar Heels are 8-2 in their last 10 matches, with losses coming against No. 8 Wake Forest, 4-1, and No. 7 Virginia, 4-3, in the ACC Tournament Championship. The Gators and Tar Heels played each other 19 times in program history with Florida leading with an all-time 14-5 record.

15-seed UNC hosted the Chapel Hill Regional last weekend, defeating both Navy and No. 16 Arizona by 4-1 scores. North Carolina has wins against South Carolina, Miami, Florida State, Louisville, NC State and Notre Dame, but has lost to Virginia, Duke, Wake Forest, Columbia and Illinois.

UNC has a player ranked in singles and a pair ranked in doubles. Brian Cernoch is No. 33 in the ITA singles rankings, while Cernoch and Mac Kiger are ranked No. 16 in doubles. In addition, Cernoch and the Tar Heels duo both qualified for the NCAA Individual Championships.

North Carolina in the Rankings
Singles
No. 33 Brian Cernoch

Doubles
No. 16 Brian Cernoch/Mac Kiger

Gators in the Rankings
Singles
No. 2 Ben Shelton
No. 28 Sam Riffice
No. 115 Duarte Vale
No. 117 Andy Andrade
No. 119 Josh Goodger

Doubles
No. 5 Sam Riffice/Ben Shelton
No. 59 Abedallah Shelbayh/Mattias Siimar
No. 65 Andy Andrade/Mattias Siimar

PARKING / WEATHER
Parking restrictions for only the green lot next to the complex will be lifted for the match. In the event of inclement weather, the team's will work hard to dry the courts and continue to play outdoors. 

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets may be purchased in advance or on each day of the tournament. An all-session pass is $10 for adults and $5 for senior citizens, college students, and children under 12.  Single day tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for senior citizens, college students, and children under 12.

Gates will open for fans one hour prior to the start of the match. Please note that seating is on a first come, first served basis and saving of seats is not permitted.

For ticket information please call: 352-375-4683.

LIVE VIDEO / LIVE STATS
Similar to the Gators' match against Florida State for College MatchDay, all NCAA Tournament contests will be streamed on the TennisONE app. Live stats will also be available through Sidearm.

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