The first undefeated weekend in Southeastern Conference play came at the perfect time for the Gators.
After nearly an hour rain delay forced No. 17 Florida (14-9, 7-5 SEC) and No. 13 Vanderbilt (15-8, 6-5 SEC) to move indoors, the Gators continued their doubles success en route to a 4-1 victory.
In doubles play, Gordon Watson and Florent Diep held serve up 8-7, clinching the point. It was the second match in a row that the tandem won after winning a tiebreak.
UF improved its record to 12-1 when winning the doubles point. The Gators carried that momentum into singles play as the teams went indoors to avoid the rain.
Bob van Overbeek continued his recent hot streak on Sunday. He won his fifth straight match after closing out Vanderbilt’s Jeff Offerdahl in straight sets. The win gave the Gators a 2-0 lead.
Frenchmen Stephanie Piro and Diep both dropped their first set 6-3. Each rallied back to win their second set 6-3.
Piro faced an uphill battle facing tenth-ranked Ryan Lipman . Lipman came into the match 18-3 in dual-match play, but Piro overcame his highly ranked foe.
Tied 4-all in the third set, Piro broke to go up one. Lipman had won 16 of his last 18 singles matches entering Sunday, but Piro finished him off 6-4 in the third set, giving the Gators a 3-0 lead.
Diep dropped his match after being shut out in the third set, leaving junior Mike Alford to close out the victory for the Gators. Alford clinched a team victory for the fourth time this season. With the victory, Florida enters as the No.3 seed in the SEC Tournament. The Gators begin play on Friday.
Gordon Watson hits a ball during Florida’s 7-0 win against St. John’s on Jan. 6, 2013. The junior won the singles event of the Gainesville ITA Circuits Draw on Monday.
