CHICAGO – The No. 14 Illinois men's tennis team fell 4-1 to the No. 4 Florida Gators on Saturday night in the second round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Illinois moves to 4-3 overall this season.
"Florida has great players and coaches," said head coach Brad Dancer. "We knew it would be a challenge and they are good through their whole lineup."Â
Junior Aleks Kovacevic and Freshman Keenan Mayo started off the Illini strong with a doubles win over def. Johannes Ingildsen and Alfredo Perez, 6-3. The Florida Gators secured the doubles point with victories at the No. 1 and 3 positions.
Getting better with every match, No. 24 Kovacevic put Illinois on the board with a victory over No. 20 Oliver Crawford, 6-2, 6-4. Tied at 1-1, the Gators extended their lead to 3-1 with wins at the No. 4 and 3 positions. In the end, No. 67 Sam Riffice defeated No. 23 Alex Brown 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the No. 2 position to seal the victory for Florida.
"Although, tonight we were sloppy," noted Dancer. "Anytime that happens you can pinpoint it right back at the coaches.  We clearly did not have our guys ready to play and that is on me."
Up next, the Illini will continue play at the 2019 ITA National Men's Team Indoor Championship in the Consolation Playoff against No. 19 Tulane on Sunday night at 6:30 p.m. CT.
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