The Boar's Head Tennis Club has not been friendly to the Gators this year. Two weeks ago, Florida lost in Charlottesville, Va., against No. 2 Virginia. Up until the beginning of singles play on Saturday, it appeared the team's fortunes had turned around.
After defeating Pepperdine 4-3 on Friday, Florida began Saturday on a high note, becoming the first team this season to win the doubles point against No. 4 Georgia.
After that, the Bulldogs seized control.
Competing in the second round of the ITA Indoor Men's Championship, the No. 5 Gators were unable to capitalize on the early point, falling to Georgia 4-2.
The Bulldogs won four of the five singles points, with Nathan Pasha's win over Billy Federhofer clinching the match. The Gators lost four of the six first sets in singles play, and only Michael Alford won his second set. The sophomore's win was Florida's only singles point.
The match between Tripper Carleton and No. 21 Sadio Doumbia, led at the time by Carleton, was called off once the Bulldogs had clinched.
Nassim Slilam, Florent Diep and Spencer Newman all lost their matches in straight sets. Slilam appeared to have a shot against No. 3 Wil Spencer, but the Georgia senior won a first-set tiebreak and went on to clobber Slilam in the second set.
Florida's doubles team of Billy Federhofer and Nassim Slilam, who rose to No. 9 in this week's ITA poll, defeated No. 7 Garrett Brasseaux and Wil Spencer 8-5. A win by No. 14 Carleton and Newman clinched the doubles point for the Gators.
Florida has won every doubles point this season except for the match against Virginia. However, this match was the second time the singles play came up well short for the Gators. Despite winning handily against Baylor, Illinois and Florida State, Georgia was the second top-five team to give the Gators serious trouble in singles.
The Gators will face No. 10 Duke on Sunday in a consolation match after the Blue Devils lost to Southern California. Last year, the Blue Devils eliminated the Gators from the tournament in the second round, winning 4-1.
