After failing to earn the doubles point against Tennessee, Florida struggled to climb out of an early 1-0 hole.
The third-seeded Gators (15-10, 8-6 Southeastern Conference) could not keep up with the No. 2 seed Volunteers (23-7, 9-4 SEC) during singles play, falling 4-2 in the SEC Tournament semifinals Saturday morning at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in Oxford, Miss.
“I thought Tennessee played really well today,” coach Bryan Shelton said. “They came out in the doubles, and they just executed a lot better than we did. I thought that made a big difference in the match how they came out playing so well from the very start, and got us on our heels.”
During doubles play, Florida was outmatched on all three courts. UF’s No. 1 doubles duo of junior Stephane Piro and senior Bob van Overbeek – ranked 37th nationally – fell to UT’s Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese 8-4. Libietis and Reese, the No. 3 doubles team in the country, led throughout the match and won 8-4.
Senior Billy Federhofer rejoined redshirt freshman Gordon Watson in doubles play after missing six contests with an ankle injury. But Tennessee’s No. 47 John Collins and Ed Jones spoiled Federhofer’s return, knocking off No. 40 Federhofer and Watson 8-3.
Playing at court 3, junior Mike Alford and freshman Luke Johnson defeated UT’s Taylor Patrick and Jarryd Chaplin, winning 8-6 in the first doubles match.
Florida lost in doubles for the first time since April 7.
“We had players fighting, one through six, three doubles teams,” Tennessee coach Sam Winterbotham said. “Our team is very close. They care for each other and they will play for each other all day long.”
Tennessee jumped ahead after 68th-ranked Piro’s upset bid against No. 3 Liebietis fell short in two sets, 6-2, 6-4. During the second set, Piro and Liebietis stood deadlocked 4-4.
The Gators came as close as 2-1 when Watson swept Patrick in two sets, 7-5, 6-1 at the No. 6 position.
Van Overbeek evened the score at 2-2 after defeating UT’s Jarryd Chaplin 6-0, 4-6, 6-1. But Florent Diep and Federhofer couldn’t climb back from deficits at courts 2 and 5.
Diep lost to Reese at court 2, 7-6, 6-3 – giving Tennessee a 3-2 lead. Jones clinched the match for the Volunteers by defeating Federhofer 7-5, 6-4.
Alford held a 5-3 advantage in the third set against Collins on court 4 but did not complete his match.
“We did a good job of competing and staying after it,” Shelton said. “I thought our guys competed until the last ball was struck, but they just played a little bit better than us today. My hat is off to them.”
Florida will now wait 20 days until it competes in the NCAA Tournament on May 10.
Senior Billy Federhofer prepares to backhand the ball during Florida’s 7-0 win against St. John’s on Jan. 26 at Linder Stadium. Federhofer dropped his last set 1-6 to end the Gators' 4-3 loss in the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
