Florida shuts out Ole Miss in SEC quarterfinals
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- The Florida men's tennis team took down the Ole Miss Rebels 4-0 in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals on Friday morning (April 28) in the first shutout in the 2017 tournament. This marks the Gators' eighth shutout this season, and the Gators' 12th all-time in the SEC Tournament.
This win advances Florida to the semifinals, where it will player the winner of Georgia vs. Arkansas at 10:00 a.m. (EST) on Saturday, April 29th.
Florida earned its first point with strong play in the doubles competition, as Chase Perez-Blanco and Joshua Wardell rolled through the Rebels' Ricardo Jorge and Robert Mounger 6-0 to earn the first doubles win. Maxx Lipman and Elliott Orkin followed close behind, clinching the doubles point with a 6-1 win over Filip Kraljevic and Tim Sandkaulen.
In singles play, McClain Kessler earned a quick 6-3, 6-0 win over Mounger on Court 6 for his fourth consecutive singles win. Johannes Ingildsen finished just moments behind on Court 5, defeating Grey Hamilton 6-4, 6-2 to bring the Gators' lead to 3-0.
With the singles point in the hands of either Orkin or Alfredo Perez, the two led 5-2 and 5-1 in their second sets, respectively. With a game score of 40-40, Perez was able to win the match point and earn a 6-3, 6-1 win over Jorge to clinch the match for the Gators.
This was the second time Florida has defeated the Rebels in the SEC Tournament Quarterfinals, improving its series record to 38-23 and its SEC Tournament record to 5-6.
Quoting Head Coach Bryan Shelton
"This is a big tournament for us, we're in the postseason now and we're trying to establish some good momentum."
"I thought our guys came out and started off playing some really good doubles. We had lost the doubles point to them in the regular season. At No. 2 doubles we were outstanding. That was probably the best match those two have played together this year. I was pleased that we played really solid doubles on Courts 1 and 3 as well."
"In singles, our guys just came ready to play. This group is really hungry and really excited to be here this time of the year. We've got exams behind us and we're just going to let it fly this week. Overall I'm just really pleased with the result, I thought our guys played really well."