The Tennessee men’s tennis team opened the SEC season with a loss to Florida on Friday followed by a victory over South Carolina on a windy Sunday afternoon in Columbia, S.C.
There were few bright spots for the Vols (8-7, 1-1 SEC) in Gainesville, as Florida was able to take a quick doubles point before freshmen Mikelis Libietis and Hunter Reese pulled off a victory against Florida’s No. 8 duo of Billy Federhofer and Nassim Slilam.
The doubles victory by Libietis and Reese was their fourth consecutive win and first career top-10 win.
Following the doubles win, Tennessee was defeated in two straight matches, giving Florida a quick 3-0 advantage.
Reese was able to get the Vols their first point, beating Florent Diep 6-4, 6-2 before Florida clinched the match 4-1 after Vols freshman Brandon Fickey was defeated by Tripper Carleton 6-0, 6-4.
Despite the match already being won by Florida, the final two matches were played out successfully for Tennessee. The Vols were able to grab two more points with wins from Libietis and junior Edward Jones.
The match final was 4-3, and although several players were able to get good victories in singles and doubles, the team was not happy with the outcome.
“We lost three easy matches,” Libietis said. “It was a tough loss, especially because it was so close, but we just need to move on. We have a lot of matches left.”
Tennessee hit the road and headed to Columbia with hopes of a first SEC win over No. 22 South Carolina.
It turned out to be a battle among the Volunteers, the Gamecocks and the wind.
“The conditions were awful,” UT coach Sam Winterbotham said. “I think both teams did a very good job of just competing in the conditions. The wind was pretty severe.”
The Vols rebounded victoriously after a disappointing Florida trip with Libietis and Reese grabbing their fifth-straight victory 8-2, and the combo of Fickey and Chaplin winning 8-6, clinching the doubles point in fast fashion.
Reese then added another point as he defeated Ivan Machado 6-1, 6-1, getting his fourth-straight victory and putting the Vols up 2-0. Fickey then went down in a second straight SEC match on court two against Andrew Adams 6-4, 6-0.
Following the first loss, Tennessee was able to win two straight points and clinch the match when Jones and Chaplin defeated their opponents.
Libietis was able to fight back for another victory against another ranked opponent after losing the first set against Nick Jones, but it did not come easy as the wind played a role in his match.
“It was pretty bad,” Libietis said. “I was fighting more with myself than with the opponent. I was really frustrated; it was really hard to play in that wind.”
The match final was 5-2 and the Volunteers’ first SEC win.
UT will look to add to its SEC win column when it returns home to play Ole Miss at 1 p.m. on Friday and Mississippi State at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
