BOX SCORE
CHICAGO – For the third straight season, the Florida Gators fell in the opening round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. This time, in heartbreaking fashion to USC, 4-3 on Friday at the Midtown Athletic Club in Chicago, Illi.
The match come down to
Oliver Crawford and Brandon Holt, teammates for Master'U's Team USA. Crawford fought back trailing 5-3 and Holt serving for the match to force a tiebreak. Crawford took an early 2-0 lead, but double faulted twice and fell behind 5-2. Holt won the tiebreak 7-3 and clinched the match for the Trojans.
Florida couldn't complete the comeback and dropped its first match of the season.
In doubles, USC got a quick victory on court one from Brandon Holt and Riley Smith with a 6-1 decision over
McClain Kessler and
Duarte Vale.
Alfredo Perez and
Johannes Ingildsen evened up the fight for the doubles point with a 6-4 win over Laurens Verboven and Jack Jaede. On court 3, USC was serving at 5-4 deuce. The Trojans had double faulted twice to ad court already when
Oliver Crawford and
Sam Riffice called the second serve long, but the official overruled. USC won the match 6-4 and earned the doubles point.
The Trojans continued the momentum into singles, taking the first set on four of the six courts. Crawford and Perez were the only Gators that captured the opening set. USC added a second point as Laurens Verboven defeated
Andy Andrade 6-4, 6-3. The five other matches went to three sets.
Perez earned his first singles win of the season and scored the Gators first point with a 3-set win over Mor Bulis. Kessler responded with his own 3-set victory to tie the match for Florida. A few seconds later, Ingildsen gave the Gators their first lead of the match with a 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 win on court 4.
Riffice, who was battling the No. 4 ranked singles player in Daniel Cukierman, dropped a close first set 5-7. He cruised to a 6-2 second set win, but fell just short of the upset in the third. Cukierman's win tied the match 3-3 and set up the clincher on court one between Holt and Crawford.
Up next, Florida falls into the consolation bracket of the ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championships. On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, the Gators will face #14 Illinois, who lost to Texas, 4-3 in the opening round. Illinois blanked Florida last season at the Indoor Championships in Seattle.
Gator Quotes
"We lost a tough one tonight. USC came into this match very hungry and they played hard. We put ourselves in positions to win tonight, but we just didn't sustain our level. We'll keep learning from these great experiences and we'll continue to improve. The real test comes tomorrow when we face Illinois who destroyed us one year ago in Seattle. We'll rest up tonight and get ready to battle again!" –
Head Coach Bryan Shelton
Final Results
#5 USC 4, #4 Florida 3
Doubles-Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
Holt/R.Smith (USC) def. Kessler/Vale (Florida) 6-1
Ingildsen/Perez (Florida) def. Verboven/Jaede (USC) 6-4
#21 Cukierman/T. Smith (USC) def. #35 Crawford/Riffce (Florida) 6-4
Singles-Order of Finish: 3, 5, 6, 4, 2, 1*
#56 Brandon Holt (USC) def. #20
Oliver Crawford (Florida) 3-6, 7-5, 7-6[3]*
#4 Daniel Cukierman (USC) def. #67
Sam Riffice (Florida) 7-5, 2-6, 6-4
#31 Laurens Verboven (USC) def. #27
Andy Andrade (Florida) 6-4, 6-3
#46
Johannes Ingildsen (Florida) def. Riley Smith (USC) 3-6, 7-5, 7-5
Alfredo Perez (Florida) def. Mor Bulis (USC) 6-4, 0-6, 7-5
McClain Kessler (Florida) def. Jake Sands (USC) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
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