Tennessee Drops Match to No. 8 Florida, 5-2

Sunday, March 17

Knoxville, TN

1 PM

University of Tennessee

#8 Florida

March 17, 2019 | Men's Tennis

Box Score

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tennessee closed out its three match homestand on Sunday against No. 8 Florida but ultimately fell to the Gators, 5-2, at Barksdale Stadium.

Tennessee (11-5, 2-3 SEC) started quick against the eighth-ranked Gators, taking the doubles point with victories on courts one and three. The 36th-ranked combination of Timo Stodder and Preston Touliatos took down No. 73 Duarte Vale/McClain Kessler, 6-3, while Scott Jones and Pat Harper defeated Oliver Crawford and Sam Riffice, 6-4, to clinch the doubles point.

The doubles match between Martim Prata/Adam Walton and Johannes Ingildsen/Alfredo Perez went unfinished but the Vol duo of Prata/Walton were leading, 5-4, when doubles ended.

The Australian duo of Jones and Harper have sealed the doubles point win for Tennessee in back-to-back matches after clinching against No. 24 South Carolina on Friday night.

In singles action, Walton is the 93rd-ranked singles player in the country and showed out in singles against No. 54 Andres Andrade. After a tight first set that Walton won, 7-6 (7-4), the Aussie powered through the second set, winning six-straight games to claim the match win.

Florida (12-2, 5-0) earned its first point of the match with a, 6-4, 6-1, win on court six courtesy of Vale defeating Prata. The Gators took courts one and three as well with No. 59 Stodder falling to 24th-ranked Crawford, 2-6, 5-7, and Jones dropping his match against No. 48 Riffice, 3-6, 4-6.

The Gators clinched the match with a win on court five as Florida's Lukas Greif defeated Luca Wiedenmann in three sets, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. The teams played out the remaining match on court four but Touliatos fell to No. 79 Ingildsen, 3-6, 6-4, 2-6.

UP NEXT: Tennessee will be back on the road next week as it travels to No. 10 Mississippi State on March 22 and No. 43 Ole Miss on March 24.

BOX SCORE
#22 Tennessee 2, #8 Florida 5
Singles
1. #24 Oliver Crawford (UF) def. #59 Timo Stodder (UT) 6-2, 7-5
2. #93 Adam Walton (UT) def. #54 Andres Andrade (UF) 7-6 (7-4), 6-0
3. #48 Sam Riffice (UF) def. Scott Jones (UT) 6-3, 6-4
4. #79 Johannes Ingildsen (UF) def. Preston Touliatos (UT) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
5. Lukas Greif (UF) def. Luca Wiedenmann (UT) 2-6, 6-4, 6-3
6. Duarte Vale (UF) def. Martim Prata (UT) 6-4, 6-1

Doubles
1. #36 Timo Stodder/Preston Touliatos (UT) def. #73 Duarte Vale/McClain Kessler (UF) 6-3
2. Martim Prata/Adam Walton (UT) vs. Johannes Ingildsen/Alfredo Perez (UF) 5-4, unfinished
3. Scott Jones/Pat Harper (UT) def. Oliver Crawford/Sam Riffice (UF) 6-4

Order of Finish: Doubles (1,3); Singles (6,3,2,1,5,4)