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Thursday, March 28, 2024
<p>The Gators men's tennis team avenged its SEC Tournament loss and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals by defeating Tennessee on Saturday.</p>

The Gators men's tennis team avenged its SEC Tournament loss and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals by defeating Tennessee on Saturday.

The situation was very similar three weeks prior. The Florida men’s tennis team was leading against Tennessee 3-2 on a Saturday afternoon.

On April 20, UF looked to be on the verge of an appearance in the SEC Tournament final. However, freshman Sam Riffice and sophomore Andy Andrade blew leads and the Gators lost the match.

It looked like the same thing could happen on this Saturday afternoon, with the Gators holding on for dear life against UT.

History did not repeat itself.

The No. 4 Gators defeated the No. 14 Volunteers 4-2 at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville to move on to the NCAA quarterfinals for the second consecutive year. Last year, Florida was in the final eight before falling 4-3 to Texas A&M.

UF won the doubles point on Saturday for the first time in its three meetings with Tennessee this year. Andrade and sophomore Duarte Vale won on Court 3 6-3 to put the Gators ahead early, but Riffice and senior Alfredo Perez lost 6-4 on Court 2 and the point came down to Court 1. There, junior Johannes Ingildsen and senior McClain Kessler clinched the point with a 6-4 win over Preston Touliatos and Timo Stodder, the sixth-ranked duo in the nation.

Tennessee fought back early in singles. No. 54 Riffice fell to No. 51 Adam Walton for the second time in a row, losing in straight sets 6-3, 6-1 on Court 2. The Gators then put themselves within one point of clinching as No. 59 Andrade won 6-3, 6-2 on Court 4 and Perez won 7-5, 6-3 on Court 3. That win put Perez in a tie for 10th all-time for singles wins in UF history.

The Volunteers got a point back on Court 6 as freshman Lukas Greif lost in three sets, 6-3, 6-7, 2-6.

Despite its lead, the final two matches were nerve-racking for Florida. No. 9 sophomore Oliver Crawford was tied 4-4 in the third set with No. 23 Stodder on Court 1 and Vale was in a third-set tiebreaker on Court 5. Vale pulled out the 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8) win and Florida clinched its place in the quarterfinals.

The remaining matches in the tournament will be played at the USTA National Campus in Orlando. Florida will face No. 6 Baylor in its quarterfinal match on Thursday, May 16.

Follow Noah Ram on Twitter @noah_ram1. Contact him at nram@alligator.org.

The Gators men's tennis team avenged its SEC Tournament loss and advanced to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals by defeating Tennessee on Saturday.

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Noah Ram

Noah is a third year journalism-sports and media student from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. He has been with The Alligator since Spring 2019 and has covered men’s and women’s tennis, gymnastics and volleyball. When he isn’t on his beat, Noah is usually sadden over his beloved South Florida sports teams, such as the Heat and Dolphins.


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