Gators Clash with Cowboys to Begin NCAA Tournament on Friday

TUCSON, Ariz. – Making their 31^st consecutive appearance at the NCAA Tournament, the Florida men’s tennis team will take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in the first round of the Arizona Regional Championship on Friday morning at the LaNelle Robson Tennis Center.
 
First serve is set for 10 a.m. MT, as No. 20 Florida (14-13, 5-7 SEC) and No. 44 Oklahoma State (13-13, 0-5 Big 12) meet for the third time in program history. The two prior meetings both occurred in Regional Championships as well, with Oklahoma State taking the first ever match in the first round at Stanford 4-1 in 2001, while the Gators bested the Cowboys 4-0 in the second round at Oklahoma State in 2006.
 
Following the match, 14^th-seeded Arizona faces No. 63 Boise State at 1 p.m. MT. The winner of both matches will advance to the second round at 1 p.m. MT on Saturday afternoon.
 
GATORS VS. THE FIELD

Opponent	All-Time Record	Last Meeting
Oklahoma State	1-1	May 14, 2006 – W, 4-0 (Stillwater, Okla.)
Boise State	0-0	Never faced
Arizona	3-1	Jan. 22, 2021 – W, 4-2 (Austin, Texas)

 
GATORS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT – FIRST & SECOND ROUND

This is Florida’s fifth time in program history playing the first round on the road since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1999. The Orange & Blue last traveled for a first round match to Tallahassee in 2007, defeating Georgia Tech before advancing to the Round of 16 after beating Florida State in the second round. The Gators hold a 40-3 (.930) record during the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament and are 14-2 record under Shelton.
 
BATTLE TESTED
Of the 25 matches on Florida’s regular season schedule, 14 came against opponents ranked in the top-25 and eight versus the top-10. This is the most top-25 ranked opponents Florida has played in the regular season since exactly 20 years ago, when the 2003 team faced 15 top-25 opponents. Additionally, UF played two more top-25 opponents in No. 22 Auburn and No. 4 Georgia at the SEC Tournament.
 
IT STARTS WITH DUBS
The Gators have won the doubles point in 18 of 27 matches this season and have a 12-6 record when jumping out to the 1-0 lead. Florida has dropped the last four doubles points and will look to snap the streak this weekend.
 
ALL-SEC
On April 27, the Gators had three All-Conference Team selections as Axel Nefve earned First Team honors, while Jonah Braswell and Will Grant claimed a spot on the…