The No. 17 Florida Gators wraps up their dual season with a pair of weekend road contests, as UF faces Kentucky on Friday at 5 p.m. in Lexington, Kentucky, before finishing the season on Sunday afternoon at 1 against No. 43 Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Florida beat the Wildcats last year on their home court and the Gators haven’t lost to Kentucky since 2011.
Sophomore Maxx Lipman and junior Diego Hidalgo contributed to Florida’s 4-2 win against the Wildcats in the 2013-2014 season.
The Gators (11-7, 6-4 Southeastern Conference) own the all-time series record against the Wildcats, 43-14.
As for Sunday’s match, the Gators will face the Volunteers (12-10, 4-6 SEC) to finish the regular season.
Coach Bryan Shelton is confident that the Gators have made the right adjustments throughout the season to finish the schedule on a high note.
“Our goal is to finish with a solid weekend and to improve our doubles performance from the past Sunday,” Shelton said. “Playing well this weekend will give us some positive momentum moving forward.”
Tennessee has four players returning that the Gators faced last season in its 4-0 victory against the Volunteers.
“The focus however is improving today and not getting ahead of the present,” Shelton said. “We got to win the day.”
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Coach Bryan Shelton talks with sophomores Elliott Orkin and Maxx Lipman during Florida's 9-3 win against William & Mary on Jan. 10 at the Ring Tennis Complex.