After a competitive Fall season, the UF men’s tennis team is keeping a positive mindset going into its dual-meet season.
Florida opens the season ranked No. 13 in the ITA Division I Men’s Tennis poll going into its first match against William & Mary this Saturday.
"We know we’re going to face adversity in the season," coach Bryan Shelton said. "We have one of the toughest schedules in the nation. I want to see us respond well to (adversity). I feel like we have a win-win situation every time we play."
Over the course of the season, Shelton hopes to build each of his players on and off the court.
"Our goals are going to be more along the lines of what we can control," Shelton said. "I want to see a lot of character development from these guys. I want to see them get better. I want to see them make an impact not only on this campus but on the community."
Sophomore Maxx Lipman, one of UF’s captains, is looking forward to playing with a young group of players and has high expectations for the team in the approaching season.
"I think during the end of the Fall we all started to play really well. That was really encouraging," Lipman said. "I think we have a really good chance of having a great year."
The Brentwood, Tennessee, native finished the 2014 season on the All-Southeastern Conference second team and the All-Freshman team.
Lipman plans to regenerate his hard work in the 2015 season and contribute to the team’s success.
"For me, the most important thing is doubles. Last year was a bit of an up and down road. I didn’t have as good of a record as I personally would want," Lipman said. "This year I really want to improve on that."
Lipman reached the doubles quarterfinals at the SEC Fall Classic with sophomore Elliott Orkin, who also is looking forward to the upcoming weekend and the overall 2015 spring season.
The right-handed hitter finished his freshman season with a 23-13 singles record and went 9-6 in dual match singles play.
"Last year we did pretty well. We started off OK but we finished the year strong. I feel like that is something we can look to do again this year, to continue getting better as the year goes on," Orkin said. "We might be young but I think we have a lot of talent on the team and I think we have a lot of competitors on the team which is something that a lot of other teams can’t say probably."
Orkin is confident that the team will grow over the course of the year and each player has high expectations for the upcoming season.
"I’ve been waiting for this Saturday to come since last May when we lost in the NCAA Tournament to Ohio State. Secondly, I think I can speak for all of us that we are all really excited to play," Orkin said.
"I think the sky is the limit this year."
Follow Caylee Underwood on Twitter @CayUnderwood
Maxx Lipman swings at the ball during Florida’s 4-2 win against TCU on Jan. 26 at the Ring Tennis Complex.
