Elliott Orkin made a name for himself on the Florida men's tennis team and throughout the collegiate tennis circuit in his first two years with the Gators.
During his junior season, he has only added to his impressive resume.
Orkin took home the singles championship after defeating Rishab Agarwal of Mississippi State, 6-0, 7-5 at the Southeastern Conference Fall Classic in Auburn, Alabama, on Sunday.
He also won the singles Fall Classic title in Gainesville last season.
Orkin, who is one of this year’s captains along with senior Diego Hidalgo, was named the Gators’ most valuable player last season and was named to the Second Team All-SEC in 2015.
Orkin also led the Gators in singles play last season with a record of 27-8.
In the quarterfinals, Orkin defeated South Carolina’s Harrison O’Keefe, 7-5, 6-2, before moving on to the semifinals where he would defeat Tennessee’s Thomas Mayronne, 6-3, 6-2.
Four other Gators made it to the quarterfinals of their respective draws on Saturday.
Freshman McClain Kessler fell to Tennessee’s Luis Valero, 6-3, 7-6, in the quarterfinals, while redshirt sophomore Josh Wardell fell in a three-set battle to Will Albanese of Arkansas, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the singles flight B draw.
Kessler would pick up a win in the singles flight A consolation semifinals against Vanderbilt’s Alex Ross, 6-4, 6-2.
Junior Maxx Lipman advanced to the singles consolations finals after defeating Hunter Vaughn of Mississippi State, 6-4, 7-5.
Sophomore Jordan Belga also advanced to the flight B singles consolation finals after a win over Tate Alwardt of Vanderbilt, 6-3, 6-1.
Belga went on to win in the finals against Langford Hills of Alabama, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1. Lipman was defeated in straight sets by Vanderbilt’s Danny Valent, 6-4, 6-2.
The Gators doubles duos also advanced to the semifinals Sunday. Lipman and Orkin defeated Conner Huertas del Pino and Joseph Van Dooren of Auburn, 8-4.
Wardell and Kessler faced the other Auburn duo of Viboosh Chandrasekar and Max Sivalls with Wardell and Kessler winning 8-2.
Lipman and Orkin would lose in the semifinals to Jack Schipanski and Luis Valero of Tennessee, 8-4, while Wardell and Kessler would lose in the finals to Vanderbilt’s Valent and Cameron Klinger, 8-5.
Women’s all-UF final postponed: For coach Roland Thornqvist’s women’s team, all four Florida doubles pairs advanced to the semifinals at the USTA/ITA Southeast Regional Championships in Athens, Georgia, on Saturday.
The semifinals, which were scheduled for Sunday but were postponed for the UF teams to return to Gainesville, will see a matchup between the No.1-ranked team of sophomore Brooke Austin and junior Kourtney Keegan against the pairing of Anna Danilina and senior Briana Morgan.
The other semifinals matchup will be between the No. 54-ranked pairing of Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock against the No. 55-ranked duo of Spencer Liang and Peggy Porter.
All four Gators who competed in singles play moved on to the quarterfinals after defeating ranked opponents.
Danilina pulled out a win in a three set match against No. 73-ranked Wendy Zhang of Miami, 7-5, 4-6, 6-1.
Keegan also pulled out a win against No. 13-ranked Sinead Lohan of Miami, 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5.
The Gators would see their singles run end on Sunday after all four players lost their matches.
At the start of the Fall season coach Roland Thornqvist said he wanted to see improved doubles play from his team.
After the strong performances over the weekend, Thornqvist seemed more than satisfied with his team’s play.
"I thought we played great today in doubles," Thornqvist said in a release, "Doubles were spectacular today from the first point. We were really aggressive."
Follow Madison Belfour on Twitter @madisonbel4
Elliott Orkin returns a ball during Florida's 9-3 win against William & Mary on Saturday at the Ring Tennis Complex.
