Jan. 26, William and Mary travelled to sunny Gainesville to face non-conference foe Florida in the first match of the ITA kick-off weekend. The number four-ranked Gators (1-0) were too much for the Tribe (0-2), which wasn’t able to find its footing against the preseason Southeastern Conference favorite in a 4-0 loss.
The College first faced Florida in doubles. Junior Brendan Volk and freshman Orn Vasser were defeated 6-0 by Florida’s Duarte Vale and McClain Kessler at the No. 1 spot. At the No. 3 spot, sophomore Chen Ruo and freshman Daniel Pellerito lost 6-0 to Oliver Crawford and Sam Riffice. Their loss secured the doubles point for Florida. Senior Tristan Bautil and sophomore Finbar Talcott did not finish their match at the No. 2 spot against Johannes Ingildsen and Alfredo Perez.
The Tribe’s next test was in singles, where it had to face five Florida athletes in the top 100. At the No. 1 spot, Volk lost 6-4, 6-1 to Florida’s Crawford, the No. 9 singles player in the country. Sophomore Sebastian Quiros dropped his match at the No. 3 spot 6-1, 6-0 to the No. 85 ranked Riffice. In doing so, Quiros snapped his seven-match win streak.
Florida only needed one more victory to clinch the overall win, and they got it at the No. 4 spot when Vasser was defeated 6-2, 6-0 by the No. 46 ranked Ingildsen. Three singles matches went unfinished since Florida had already secured the match victory. At the No. 2 spot, Talcott faced off against No. 37 Andy Andrade, while at the No. 5 spot, Jack Kelly was pitted against No. 100 Duarte Vale. Finally, at the No. 6 spot Pellerito was playing against Kessler.
The Tribe’s next match will be against Louisville Jan. 27, continuing the ITA Kick-off Weekend.