After losing to Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday, Florida (10-7, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) didn’t waste any time getting back on track in its 4-0 victory over LSU (11-10, 2-7 SEC) in Baton Rouge, La., on Sunday.
Bryan Shelton and his team had a hard time against the Tigers last season, dropping the match 4-2. Entering Sunday’s contest, LSU led the all-time series with UF 27-24-1. The team didn’t expect any breaks against LSU. Its gameplan was to hit the ground running and have no mercy.
“We don’t take anyone lightly,” assistant coach Mark Merklein said in a release Thursday. “It’s nice to go into the LSU match and know that this team beat us last year. Now we have to prove something.”
Florida has played better when it wins the doubles point, which it did Sunday evening.
First to finish on the doubles court were Maxx Lipman and Elliot Orkin in a fairly easy 8-2 decision over LSU’s Andrew Korinek and Boris Arias.
Second to finish for the Gators were Diego Hidalgo and Michael Alford.
They struggled to find their stroke in the match and fell 3-8 to Chris Simpson and Justin Butsch.
With the matches tied at one for the doubles point, it was up to Gordon Watson and Florent Diep to win the clinching point for their team. Despite this being the first time that the two players paired up, they won in an 8-3 match against the 70th-ranked duo Tam Trinh and Eric Perez.
On the singles court, Florida gave up no points, winning in three straight matches. First to finish was freshman Orkin in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2, against Trinh, giving the Gators a 2-0 lead.
Next to win was 108th-ranked Diep, who also won in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3, over Justin Butsch.
Diep’s win gave the Gators a commanding 3-0 lead over the Tigers.
Lipman closed out the match for Florida. Despite a tough first set, he managed to regain focus and defeat Arias, 7-5, 6-2.
“I’m very proud of of how our guys dealt with the disappointment of losing at Arkansas,” coach Bryan Shelton said in a release. “Our guys were ready and executed. We learned some good lessons this weekend.”
Follow Britneé McCoy on Twitter @TheReporterGirl
