In the day’s most crucial matchup, Henry Jefferson claimed a 6-2, 6-2 singles win over Florida Gulf Coast University’s Tanner Povey, leading the charge to the Gators’ first victory since Jan. 24.
Headlined by his 3-0 run across the middle game stretch, he secured Florida’s final point.
“You kind of see throughout a college a dual match you may be the fourth point for your team,” Jefferson said. “That adds a little more pressure, but at the same time if you put that on your shoulders in a good way then you can always come through for your team.”
No. 23 Florida (4-2) topped FGCU (1-6) 4-0 Saturday afternoon at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex to remain undefeated against the Eagles.
The Gators dominated in doubles, with junior Jefferson and senior Lorenzo Claverie sweeping FGCU 6-0 on court one. The duo did not let up, holding a commanding lead game over game.
On court two, redshirt senior Pablo Perez Ramos and senior Tanapatt Nirundorn got slight pushback from the Eagles, but still took their set 6-2. The Gators nabbed the final four games, propelling Ramos and Nirundorn ahead.
However, all eyes were on court three, with a close competition between junior Kevin Edengren and freshman Andreas Timini and their doubles opponents. But they snuck past, taking the set 5-3. Timini, a freshman from Cyprus, extended his doubles record to 7-1.
But the singles brought the true test for the Gators, and the Eagles put up a strong fight.
Timini squared off against FGCU’s Stavros Hadjivarnava on court five, setting up for an all-time dual.
Timini went down 5-1 late in the first set, but rattled off five consecutive wins to force a tiebreaker. The Cyprus native came out on top 7-6.
“He started hitting the ball big and playing the way he’s capable in the tiebreaker,” head coach Adam Steinberg said. “It shows a lot of character the way he came back and got through that and started lifting his game.”
Edengren headlined the Gators’ victories in singles. His win was the most dominant of the afternoon — 6-1, 6-0.
The next Gator to claim victory on his court was Perez Ramos. His first-set win came in dominant fashion, topping Eagles Pablo Paternostro 6-3. Then, the two battled in the second set, but it was the Gators’ upperclassman who was able to pull away with the 7-5 win.
Florida gears up for the ITA National Indoor Championships from Feb. 13-17 and awaits its slate.
Contact Riley Orovitz at rorovitz@alligator.org. Follow her on X @rileyorovitz.
Contact Ava DiCecca at adicecca@alligator.org. Follow her on X @avadicecca24.
Ava is a sophomore sports journalism student and the Spring 2026 sports editor. Previously for The Alligator, she covered volleyball and did sports enterprise. Ava enjoys watching and playing sports in her free time and has been a Boston sports fan all her life. (Brad Marchand is still everything.)
Riley is a sophomore sports journalism student in her second semester at The Alligator. She is the beat reporter for Gators Swim & Dive while also contributing to the Gators Football Beat. She previously served in the same role in her first semester with the newspaper. Riley is an avid South Florida sports fan and enjoys playing/following all sports in her free time.
