BOX SCORE
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – For the first time in 16 matches, Florida's singles comeback was just not enough.
After dropping the doubles point but rattling off three straight singles victories, the Gators couldn't close it out. Tennessee earned the 4-3 victory in the second semifinal of the day at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
The Tennessee team that Florida defeated 5-2 in Knoxville about a month ago was not the same team that showed up in Gainesville for the SEC Championships.
Not only had the No. 4-seeded Volunteers altered the singles lineup but they had answers for every shot and every ball Florida hit.
Florida took a 3-1 lead midway through singles with wins from
Alfredo Perez,
Duarte Vale and
Oliver Crawford. But soon after, Tennessee trimmed the lead 3-2 with a 2-set decision over
Johannes Ingildsen on court 3 and the attention turned to
Sam Riffice and
Andy Andrade on courts 2 and 4. Both courts were tightly-contested three-set matches.
On court 4, Andrade took a 5-3 lead, after holding serve through 3, but Tennessee won four straight games and took court 4, 7-5 to tie the match. On court 2, Riffice and Adam Walton held serve through 5, but Walton went up a break and ultimately sealed the upset with a 7-5 win.
This marks the second-consecutive season that Florida has lost in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. The Gators also fall to 9-13 in conference tournament semifinal history.
In doubles, Florida found themselves at an early disadvantage once again after dropping matches on courts 1 and 2. Perez and Crawford were bested 1-6 and the Volunteers clinched the point with a 6-3 victory over Ingildsen and
McClain Kessler.
Singles seemed to be headed in a familiar direction as Florida claimed four of the six first sets. The Gators dropped matches on courts 3 and 4, despite erasing early set deficits.
Perez dominated on court 5 with a 6-2, 6-2 victory and has now won seven of his last eight matches. Vale gave the Gators their first lead of the match with a 6-1, 6-4 decision and the sophomore improved to 13-1 in dual singles and extended his winning streak to 11 matches.
Crawford extended Florida's lead to 3-1 with an emotional two-set victory on the main court.
Tennessee's wins on courts 2, 3, and 4 clinched the Volunteers a spot in the SEC Tournament championship match against No. 2-seed Mississippi State.
Up next, Florida will await the selection and announcement of NCAA sites. The first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament are slated for May 4 and 5, 2019.
Quotes from the Gators:
Head Coach Bryan Shelton
Opening Statement
"Hats off to Tennessee. They came and played just an awesome match. I thought those guys were really well prepared. I told our guys in the locker room after the match that we got to give them a lot of credit because they played us tough in the doubles and they played us tough in the singles. They were super super disciplined with their play. They made very few unforced errors, especially at the end of that match, so when the pressure really ramped up, they stayed steady and they allowed us to kind of make some unforced errors and they came up with some big shots of their own at big times in the match. I have to give credit to their coaching staff and every one of their guys, they brought a lot of energy. But I am also proud of our guys who competed extremely hard as we have all season. It's always tough to lose those matches and it's really tough to lose at home, where we feel like we have a huge advantage. But again, Tennessee was just a little bit too good today.
On the attitude of the guys post match and bouncing back from the loss
"That's what we always talk about: being resilient. Shortly after the match, we didn't look too resilient, but that's to be expected. When you put it all out on the line and you work hard for things and you don't get them, you are going to be disappointed. Certainly our guys love to win. They don't like losing and they know how hard they work, so it hurts to lose those types of matches. But I know that we will bounce back. We talked in the locker room about giving it all we got from here on out. We've got the NCAA Tournament still ahead of us. We've had a great run so far this season. We had not lost an outdoor match all season until today, so we have a lot to be thankful for and to be proud of and I feel like the best is yet to come. So for us, let's take a couple days, regroup and let's double our effort and finish this thing as strong as we possibly can."
Freshman Sam Riffice
On the end of his match and the team's loss
"All the credit to their team. They played a bunch of good matches in doubles and singles. Then for our team, everyone was fighting, even the guys that ended up losing, right after their match they were there supporting. They were doing an amazing job. I definitely had my chances in that final set and I thought I did everything I could and he [Adam Walton] hit some better shots than me. He had a lot of good passing shots on key points. I thought I kept coming at him and he just kept coming back with some better stuff. I just feel like I let the team down a little bit with that one, but I know I gave it everything I had in that match and I'm just proud of my team for how hard they fought."
On using this loss as a stepping stone for the rest of the season
"I don't think a single guy on our team will take this negatively. I think every single guy will use in positively to motivate us for the final couple week push of training before NCAA's and during the NCAA's."
Final Results
#13 Tennessee 4, #3 Florida 3
Doubles-Order of Finish: 1,2
1. #10 Timo Stodder/Preston Touliatos (UT) def.
Oliver Crawford/
Alfredo Perez (UF) 6-1
2. Pat Harper/Andrew Rogers (UT) def.
McClain Kessler/
Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 6-3
3.
Duarte Vale/Andres Andrade (UF) vs. Scott Jones/Adam Walton (UT) 5-2, unfinished
Singles-Order of Finish: 5,6,1,3,4,2
1. #11
Oliver Crawford (UF) def. #28 Timo Stodder (UT) 6-4, 6-2
2. #71 Adam Walton (UT) def. #52
Sam Riffice (UF) 1-6, 6-3, 7-5
3. Scott Jones (UT) def. #91
Johannes Ingildsen (UF) 6-4, 6-2
4. Luca Wiedenmann (UT) def. #50 Andres Andrade (UF) 6-4, 3-6, 7-5
5.
Alfredo Perez (UF) def. Martim Prata (UT) 6-2, 6-2
6. #94
Duarte Vale (UF) def. Preston Touliatos (UT) 6-1, 6-4
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