CHICAGO – In a tight battle with No. 12 North Carolina, the No. 16 Florida men's tennis team couldn't hold off the Tar Heels and came up short 4-2 in a consolation match at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.
 
For back-to-back matches, Florida (4-5, 0-0 SEC) put the pressure on the opposition by winning the first doubles match, but North Carolina (7-3, 0-0 ACC) managed to take courts two and three for the 1-0 advantage. Will Grant/Axel Nefve earned their third ranked win together with an efficient 6-2 take down of No. 37 Casey Kania/Ryan Seggerman at court one. After being tied at 2-2, Grant/Nefve won four straight games and converted on three break points, while saving three break points.
 
With No. 15 Tanapatt Nirundorn/Togan Tokac falling 6-2 to Brian Cernoch/Benjamin Kittay at court two, the doubles point was up to No. 52 Jonah Braswell/Lukas Greif at court three. Looking to clinch their sixth doubles point of the season, the Gators pair was unable to hold serve down 5-4 and dropped 6-4 to Will Jansen/Karl Poling.
 
The 1-0 deficit didn't rattle Florida as they picked up the first two singles point via wins on court six and court two, respectively. In his second singles match as a Gator, Olek Orlikowski was firing on all cylinders in the six spot against Peter Murphy. The freshman delivered an efficient 6-1, 6-2 win and converted four of six break points for his first-career victory to initially tie the match for the Orange & Blue.
 
Four minutes later, No. 94 Grant pushed the Gators ahead with his second Top-20 victory of the season and first of the spring over No. 19 Seggerman in straight sets. The junior converted a break point to go up 4-2 in the first frame and saved five break points to take the opening set 6-3. Once again, Grant only needed to convert one break point in the second set for the 4-3 advantage and secured the Florida lead via a 6-3, 6-4 triumph.
 
With UNC claiming the opening set on court one, three, four and five, the Gators were unable to overcome the deficit and the Tar Heels took three of the four to clinch the 4-2 victory.
 
Florida will play their final consolation match at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT and hope to finish strong against No. 10 Baylor. Baylor lost to No. 3 TCU, 4-0, in the first round and to No. 8 South Carolina, 4-0, in the consolation match this morning.
 
DOUBLES RESULTS
1. Will Grant/Axel Nefve (UF) def. No. 37 Casey Kania/Ryan Seggerman (UNC), 6-2
2. Brian Cernoch/Benjamin Kittay (UNC) def. #15 Tanapatt Nirundorn/Togan Tokac (UF), 6-2
3. Will Jansen/Karl Poling (UNC) def. #52 Jonah Braswell/Lukas Greif (UF), 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
 
SINGLES RESULTS
1. No. 59 Brian Cernoch (UNC) def. Axel Nefve (UF), 7-5, 6-4
2. No. 94 Will Grant (UF) def. No. 19 Ryan Seggerman (UNC), 6-3, 6-4
3. Will Jansen (UNC) def. No. 48 Jonah Braswell (UF), 6-3, 7-5
4. No. 95 Nate Bonetto (UF) vs. Karl Poling (UNC), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 2-0, unfinished
5. Anuj Watane (UNC) def. Togan Tokac (UF), 7-5, 6-3
6. Olek Orlikowski (UF) def. Peter Murphy (UNC), 6-1, 6-2 
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 1, 5, 3

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