The
No. 11 Florida men’s tennis team fell to No. 13 California, 4-1, on Saturday in
a consolation match at the 2013 ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championship
in Seattle, Wash. UF will face either No. 8 Oklahoma or No. 24 Washington on
Sunday in its final match of the event.
The
Gators fell behind early after dropping the doubles point to the Bears. Cal’s
Mads Engsted and Ben McLachlan beat UF’s Michael Alford and Florent Diep, 8-3,
at the No. 2 position to get things started. The point was clinched on court
one, when the Bears’ pair of Chris Konigsfeldt and Campbell Johnson took down
Florida’s duo of Billy Federhofer and Gordon Watson, 8-6.
In
singles, the Bears got another point as Johnson dealt Piro his first loss of
the spring, winning 6-2, 6-0 at the No. 3 position. Florida got a point from
Federhofer on court six, defeating Nikhil Jayashankar, 6-3, 7-6.
The
remaining four courts split the first two sets, as the Gators tried to extend
the match. After Diep dropped the first set, 1-6, against Konigsfeldt on court
two, he fought back to win the second set, 6-4, and force a deciding third set.
Diep couldn’t complete the comeback effort, losing 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, and Cal took
a 3-1 lead in the match.
With
Florida needing points from the final three matches, the pressure was on Alford,
van Overbeek and Watson, who each won their first sets. On court one, Cal’s
McLachlan stormed back to spilt sets with van Overbeek, while Alford dropped
the second set to Engsted on court five. Watson got to a tiebreak in the second
set, but couldn’t pull it out and went to a third set against Bayane at No. 4
singles.
The
match was clinched on court one, as McLachlan closed out van Overbeek, 6-7,
6-1, 6-4.
ITA
National Indoor Championships
February
16, 2013
Seattle,
Wash. (Seattle Tennis Club)
#13
California 4, #11 Florida 1
Singles
competition
1.
#82 Ben McLachlan (CAL) def. #78 Bob van Overbeek (UF), 6-7, 6-1, 6-4
2.
#48 Chris Konigsfeldt (CAL) def. #36 Florent Diep (UF), 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
3.
#61 Campbell Johnson (CAL) def. #108 Stephane Piro (UF), 6-2, 6-0
4.
Gregory Bayane (CAL) led Gordon Watson (UF), 4-6, 7-6, 5-2
5.
Michael Alford (UF) vs. Mads Engsted (CAL), 7-6, 4-6, 6-6 – unfinished
6.
Billy Federhofer (UF) def. Nikhil Jayashankar (CAL), 6-3, 7-6
Doubles
competition
1.
*#14 Konigsfeldt/Johnson (CAL) def. Watson/Federhofer (UF), 8-6
2.
Engsted/McLachlan (CAL) def. #46 Alford/Diep (UF), 8-3
3.
Bayane/Melton (CAL) led Piro/van Overbeek (UF), 7-6 – unfinished
Match
Notes:
Florida
6-2; National ranking #11
California
4-3; National ranking #13
Order
of Finish: Doubles (2, 1), Singles (3, 6, 2, 1)
