The regular season ended on a high note for the UF men’s tennis team, which shut out the Auburn Tigers 7-0 on Sunday.
The win helped the Gators finish within the top four of the SEC standings, giving them the advantage of having a bye in the SEC tournament. With the win, UF also inches closer to earning a top-16 rank in the NCAA tournament, which would give it a home-court advantage for the first two rounds.
No. 16 Florida (16-8, 9-3 SEC) entered its Senior Day match against the Tigers (13-14, 3-9 SEC) with heavy momentum, coming back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat No. 17 Mississippi State in a 4-3 match just two days prior. Friday’s match saw sophomore McClain Kessler pick up the decisive win in three sets to vault the Gators over the Bulldogs. This was Kessler’s first home win since February as he spent the majority of the regular season rehabbing from injury.
“It was a pretty special night for McClain, who’s kind of our emotional leader,” Florida coach Bryan Shelton said in a release. “He’s been out for several weeks now, so for him to have his first match back at home since his injury and to be the clincher tonight is just great to see.”
Auburn entered Sunday’s match on opposite terms. The Tigers had lost their last four matches and were looking to turn it around against the Gators.
However, it was all Gators from start to finish.
The nation’s No. 6-ranked doubles pairing of Alfredo Perez and Johannes Ingildsen helped Florida take the lead in doubles when it captured the 6-3 win over Auburn’s Edward Nguyen and Brandon Laubser.
The senior pairing of Elliott Orkin and Maxx Lipman clinched the doubles point in its last regular-season match for Florida, defeating Dante Saleh and Olle Thestrup 6-4 and giving UF the 1-0 lead.
After taking the early lead, Florida was able to assert its dominance further in singles play. Each singles match finished in two sets and all fell in favor of the Gators.
Quick victories came from Chase Perez-Blanco, who defeated Nguyen (6-2, 6-1), and Kessler, who trounced the Tigers’ Michael Durham 6-3, 6-0.
Meanwhile, Orkin achieved the 100-win milestone for his collegiate career in what could be his last match on the Gators’ home court. The senior defeated Conner Huertas in the day’s longest match, winning in a tiebreak by a tally of 6-2, 7-6 (7-5). The 100 wins puts Orkin eighth on UF’s all-time wins list.
Lipman was also able to secure the Senior Day victory, defeating Saleh 6-4, 6-2.
“Today was really about Maxx and Elliott,” Shelton said. “We certainly wanted to come out and play well to get a win for those guys and the program. Especially those two, because they’ve really meant a lot to me, being my first (recruiting) class that I brought in here.
“These guys are certainly going to be missed, but I’m glad we have some more battles together before it’s over.”
Contact Mark Stine at mstine@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @mstinejr.
UF sophomore McClain Kessler pumps his fist during Florida's 4-2 win against UCLA on Feb. 5, 2017, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
