GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 71 University of North Florida men's tennis team clinched the doubles point early, but ended up falling 5-2 against No. 14 University of Florida on Wednesday at the Ring Tennis Complex.
 
"All this week, we've been talking about trying to compete 100 percent physically, mentally and emotionally," said head coach Mark Finnegan. "I think we came close to completing that in today's matches. Today, clinching the doubles point was big, but Florida took some chances in singles and ended up coming away with the match."
 
The Ospreys' No. 2 doubles team of Caio Gomes and Yannick Zuern claimed the first doubles victory with a 6-2 upset over the nationally-ranked No. 13 team of Elliott Orkin and Gordon Watson. Florida came back to win the second doubles match, with Florent Diep and Maxx Lippman defeating Zach Goldberg and Pablo Tellez 6-5 (7-6) at the No. 3 spot and forcing the doubles point to be decided by the No. 1 doubles pairs. Norbert Nemcsek and Jack Findel-Hawkins won 6-5 (7-4) over Florida's Mike Alford and Stephane Piro at No. 1 doubles in order to give North Florida the doubles point and a 1-0 lead in the match.
 
Gomes notched the only UNF singles victory, downing nationally-ranked No. 111 Watson 6-3, 6-5 (7-4) at the No. 2 spot.
 
Both Findel-Hawkins and Zuern went to three sets in their respective matches. At No. 3 singles, Findel-Hawkins won the first set against No. 28 Piro 6-4, but fell 6-3, 6-3 in the final two sets. At the No. 4 spot, Zuern fought back after dropping the first set 6-5(7-4) to No. 53 Orkin and won the second set 6-2 to force a decisive third set. However, Zuern fell 6-4 to Orkin in the final set.  
 
"Today's match will help us in preparation for our match against Georgia Tech on Saturday," said Finnegan. "We are looking to improve upon today and get up to the 100 percent."
 
The Ospreys travel to Atlanta, Ga., to take on Georgia Tech at the Ken Byers Tennis Complex on Saturday, Jan. 25 at Noon.
 
Complete Results:
No. 14 Florida 5, No. 71 North Florida 2
Singles Competition:
No. 1 – Spencer Newman (UF) def. Norbert Nemcsek (UNF) 6-4, 6-1
No. 2 – Caio Gomes (UNF) def. No. 111 Gordon Watson (UF) 6-3, 6-5 (7-4)
No. 3 – No. 28 Stephane Piro (UF) def. Jack Findel-Hawkins (UNF) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 4 – No. 53 Elliott Orkin (UF) def. Yannick Zuern (UNF) 6-5 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4
No. 5 – Florent Diep (UF) def. Zach Goldberg (UNF) 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 – No. 116 Mike Alford def. Pablo Tellez (UNF) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles Competition:
No. 1 – Norbert Nemcsek/Jack Findel-Hawkins (UNF) def. Mike Alford/Stephane Piro (UF) 6-5 (7-4)
No. 2 – Caio Gomes/Yannick Zuern (UNF) def. No. 13 Elliott Orkin/Gordon Watson (UF) 6-2
No. 3 – Florent Diep/Maxx Lipman (UF) def. Zach Goldberg/Pablo Tellez (UNF) 6-5 (7-4)
Match Notes
Order of Finish: Doubles (2,3,1) Singles (1,5,6,2,4,3)