Tied at 8-8 in No. 1 doubles, Stephane Piro and Bob van Overbeek needed to win the 7-point tiebreaker to gain an early lead for the Gators over the Bulldogs.
Entering the match, Georgia was 8-2 on the season when winning the doubles point. Georgia made that stat 9-2 after Hernus Pieters and Ben Wagland won the 7-point tiebreaker 7-2, giving the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.
Taking that momentum into singles, the No. 5 Bulldogs (11-4, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) won the first sets on five of six courts en route to a 4-0 shutout over the No. 35 Gators (7-6, 1-2 SEC), extending their winning streak over the Gators to five straight matches.
Piro and Wagland carried their battle into No. 3 singles. Wagland was up 4-0 in the first set before Piro won his first game. Wagland went on to win the first set 6-2. I
n the second set, Piro had his chance to pull away from Wagland after the set was tied 2-all. But Wagland took the lead and didn’t look back after he won the match 6-2, 6-2.
After five consecutive three-set matches, UF’s Mike Alford dropped his match to Austin Smith in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, giving UGA a 3-0 lead. The loss dropped Alford to 5-1 in two-set matches this season.
For the sixth time this season, freshman Luke Johnson was substituted into the singles lineup after redshirt freshman Gordon Watson was scratched minutes before singles began. Johnson hadn’t played since Feb. 23, and the Gators had to rely on him to rally back in order to avoid a loss.
Two important tiebreakers in his match went in favor of UGA. Tied 5-all in the first set, UGA’s Garrett Brasseaux ended up winning the set 7-5. A second loss in a row for the Gators was staring the freshman in the face.
Tied 3-all in the second set, Brasseaux pushed the set to 5-3 and never looked back, winning 6-4. Brasseaux clinched his first match since 2011 for the Bulldogs.
After losing seven straight matches, Bob van Overbeek fell from the No. 1 singles position to No. 2. His match was unfinished, however, when the Gators had lost.
The Gators take on the Tennessee Volunteers at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
UF senior Bob van Overbeek returns a volley. Van Overbeek won only his second match since Feb. 3 against Ole Miss on Friday.
