GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 43 Vanderbilt men’s tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision on the road to the No. 11 Florida Gators. With the loss, the squad now owns a 12-10 (3-4) record as they head into their last match of the weekend on Sunday.
The Dores fell in doubles, with losses on courts one and two. No. 33 Rhys Johnson and Cameron Klinger fell 6-3 to UF’s No. 1 team in the country, Hidalgo/Watson. The point was clinched as Tate Allwardt and Baker Newman lost in a hard fought battle on two, 6-4.
With the doubles point secured, the Gators took additional victories on courts three and four for the 3-0 lead. Johnson generated VU’s first point of the contest, taking down No. 29 Elliot Orkin, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1.
Kris Yee put up a tough fight for the ‘Dores on court five. The senior dropped his first set 6-4, but at deuce point in the second set Yee returned the ball too deep to give UF the 6-5 lead. The Gators broke serve to take the match.
Florida earned its final victory on court six, as Allwardt lost after claiming his first set, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. While the match was win awarded to Florida, Daniel Valent ended the match on a high note as the sophomore extended his win streak to four SEC matches, with a close 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory over No. 24 Hidalgo.
NOTES:
-Johnson’s victory at No. 2 over No. 29 Orkin was his highest ranked win this season.
– Valent’s win on court one was his third highest ranked win this season, having defeated Nos. 17 and 18 earlier this spring
– Friday’s competition was Allwardt’s SEC singles debut
– Johnson/Klinger’s loss in doubles was the tandems second in league play, (15-5, 5-2)
NEXT TIME OUT:
The Commodores travel to Auburn, Ala. to take on the No. 55 Tigers Sunday at 1:00 pm CT. Last season, the Dores earned their third of four SEC sweeps against Auburn, only to defeat the Tigers once more in the SEC tournament, 4-2.
