Sophomore Johannes Ingildsen returned to the lineup to team up with junior Alfredo Perez.
The Florida men’s tennis team fought until the end but lost to the Mississippi State Bulldogs 4-2 in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Unlike the last time these two played on March 9, Mississippi State got the better of Florida in doubles.
With the return of sophomore Johannes Ingildsen to the lineup, the No. 3-ranked duo returned to Court 1. However, the pair looked out of sorts after losing to Mississippi State’s No. 15-ranked tandem of juniors Nuno Borges and Strahinja Rakic 6-3 to put the Gators behind early.
The No. 25-ranked pairing of senior Chase Perez-Blanco and freshman Oliver Crawford won its second-straight doubles match in the SEC Tournament over MSU’s team of junior Trevor Foshey and freshman Florian Broska, 6-3. This was Perez-Blanco’s and Crawford’s eighth-straight doubles win together dating back to the regular season. They are 22-4 as a team this season.
With the win on Court 3, it came down to Court 2 to decide the doubles point.
After their dominant win on Court 1 in the quarterfinals, senior McClain Kessler and freshman Duarte Vale struggled on Court 2 against the Bulldogs’ duo of junior Niclas Braun and sophomore Giovanni Oradini and lost 6-4 to give the Bulldogs the doubles point. This was the first time the Gators (15-10, 9-4 SEC) lost the doubles point since April 6 against Texas A&M.
But much like the match on March 9, Florida’s downfall against Mississippi State (18-2, 11-1 SEC) was in singles play.
No. 24 Ingildsen returned to singles play on Court 1 with a disappointing display, losing to No. 2 Borges in straight sets 6-4, 6-4. The sophomore held a lead three separate times but gave them all away in the loss.
However, Ingildsen’s doubles partner, No. 13 Perez, blitzed to a win in straight sets on Court 3 over Rakic 6-3, 6-2 to give Florida its first point of the contest.
After he won his 60th-career singles victory on Friday, Kessler followed it up with another strong performance against the Bulldogs’ Foshey on Court 6.
“He was huge,” coach Bryan Shelton said in a release. “He was relentless with his energy, so much so that I thought he might run out of energy because he was displaying so much of it between every point.”
The junior lost the first set but rallied in the next two — in which he never trailed — capping it off with an ace that caused him to throw his hat and shout to the crowd with jubilation. The 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 win for Kessler was his fifth win in his last six matches.
Kessler’s win tied it up for the Gators, but they could not take the lead.
Perez-Blanco lost in three sets on Court 4 to give the Bulldogs their third point. The senior won the first set 6-4, but could not hold on, losing the next two 4-6, 3-6.
After his heroic win on Court 1 on Friday, Crawford lost the match-clinching set 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Court 2 to dash Florida’s hopes of the 2018 SEC championship trophy. The freshman made one last run from 5-1 down to almost tie it up before No. 27 Oradini put it away for Mississippi State.
"I am so proud of this team,” Shelton said. “The attitude that we displayed, the fight, the competitive spirit, thinking through the match and trying to make adjustments as we went through it I'm just so proud of this team.”
Freshman Andy Andrade, the lone Gator who did not complete his singles match, was in the lead before the match’s close.
Florida now awaits seeding for the NCAA Tournament and will find out where and who they will be playing in the first round on May. Tournament action will begin May 12.
Contact Dylan Rudolph at drudolph@alligator.org follow him on Twitter @dyrudolph.
