The Florida men’s tennis team took its second loss of the season 4-0 Friday against No. 15 Florida State at the Scott Speicher Memorial Tennis Center in Tallahassee.
In doubles, UF graduate student Bradley Paliska and freshman Niels Villard faced FSU freshman Jan Sebesta and senior Jamie Connel on court three. The FSU duo made quick work of the Gators, storming to a 6-2 victory.
Florida sophomores Adhithya Ganesan and Jeremy Jin didn’t have much better luck against No. 112 sophomore Erik Schiessl and senior Joshua Dous-Karpenschif on court two. Although the score was even at 4-4 after eight games, the Seminole pair broke Florida and won two straight en route to a 6-4 victory. This victory for FSU secured the Seminoles the doubles point.
The final doubles match on court one remained unfinished, with FSU leading 5-3 before the match was called.
In singles, Nirundorn struggled to gain momentum against Dous-Karpenschif on court five, falling 6-1 in the first set. The Gator couldn’t muster up a comeback in the second set as the Seminole routed him again 6-1, giving FSU a 2-0 lead.
Paliska played on court six, as FSU sophomore Azariah Rusher made quick work of him in straight sets to give FSU its third unanswered point.
The second court saw Adhithya unable to break a strong No. 22 Connel, as the Seminole cruised to a 6-2 first set victory. The second set was nearly identical, as Connel defeated the Gator 6-2 again, completing the sweep for FSU and securing the Noles a 4-0 victory over Florida.
Jin, Jefferson and UF senior JanMagnus Johnson all saw their respective matches suspended following FSU clinching the victory. Jin and Johnson were trailing 1-0 in their matches, while Jefferson had taken an early 1-0 lead over Bulte, albeit to no avail.
Florida will look to bounce back on Sunday when it hosts UNC Willmington at 11 a.m. and Florida Gulf Coast at 4 p.m.
Contact Curan Ahern at cahern@alligator.com and follow him on X at @CuranAhern
Curan is the men's tennis beat reporter and a second-year journalism sports & media major. He enjoys spending his free time with pets, at the beach and fishing.
