Gators to take on Ole Miss Friday
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The fourth-seeded Florida women’s tennis team is set to open the 2023 Southeastern Conference Tournament on Friday morning when they face off against 12th-seeded Ole Miss for a 10 a.m. ET matchup at the Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Rebels upset the fifth-seeded Auburn Tigers Thursday morning 4-3 to advance to the quarterfinals. Ole Miss beat Missouri on the first day of the tournament Wednesday night.
Friday’s quarterfinal round can be viewed online here<https://web.playsight.com/livestreaming/bb2c028e95e3497ca4b4400a9818da1d> while the semifinal round on Saturday will be streamed on SEC Network+. The championship on Sunday afternoon will be aired live on SEC Network.
AT THE SEC TOURNAMENT
Historically, Florida is strong at the SEC Tournament. The Gators (15-6, 9-4 SEC) boast a 79-14 mark at the tournament, including an impressive 32-2 mark in the quarterfinal round. When advancing to the semifinal round, Florida holds a 27-5 mark and, in the 27 tournament championship appearances, UF is 20-7. Overall, the Orange & Blue have made the semifinal round or better 32 times.
AGAINST THE FIELD – SEC TOURNAMENT EDITION
Alabama – 4-0, UF
Arkansas – 4-0, UF
Auburn – 4-0, UF
Georgia – 12-6, UF
Kentucky – 7-0, UF
LSU – 7-0, UF
Ole Miss – 10-1, UF
Mississippi State – 2-0, UF
South Carolina – 8-2, UF
Tennessee – 8-0, UF
Texas A&M – 1-2, TAMU
Vanderbilt – 12-3, UF
IN THE REGULAR SEASON
During the regular season, the Gators and Ole Miss (11-12, 3-10 SEC) met in Oxford, Miss. Back on March 26. Florida won 4-1, a match that took place in the middle of the Gators five-match win streak from late March to early April. Florida won the doubles point early before picking up singles victories from Carly Briggs, Rachel Gailis and Emily De Oliveira.
ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS
Brooke Austin (2015, 16)
Marrit Boonstra (2010)
Anna Danilina (2017, 18)
Alicia Dudeney (2022)
Lauren Embree (2012, 13)
Olivia Janowicz (2011, 2013)
McCartney Kessler (2018)
Kourtney Keegan (2017)
Joanna Mather (2012)
Brianna Morgan (2016)
Allie Will (2010, 11)
TOURNAMENT MVP
2000 – Baili Camino, Florida
2002 – Jessica Lehnhoff, Florida
2003 – Jennifer Magley, Florida
2004 – Julie Rotondi, Florida
2005 – Zerene Reyes, Florida
2006 – Diana Srebrovic, Florida
2010 – Marrit Boonstra, Florida
2011 – Allie Will, Florida
2012 – Joanna Mather, Florida
2013 – Olivia Janowicz, Florida
2016 – Brianna Morgan, Florida
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Rachel Gailis earned her second SEC Freshman of the Week honor this past week. Gailis went undefeated in singles for the third consecutive weekend at court four and opened both doubles competitions with a win on court two to help Florida secure the doubles point. Against Alabama, the No. 74 pair of Gailis and Carly Briggs kicked off doubles with a 6-3 win over Parkhomenko/Sedlackova. She followed by adding UF’s third point with a straight set victory, 6-3, 6-2 over Anna Parkhomenko. Against Auburn to decide the No. 4 seed, Gailis and Briggs dropped just one game against Flach/Okutoyi and sped past for the 6-1 victory, snapping the Auburn pair’s three-match winning streak. Gailis boosted the Orange & Blue towards the top-15 triumph over Auburn after taking charge of the three-set win over Kaitlyn Carnicella, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 for their third point of the match.
ITA RANKINGS
In the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings, the Gators stayed at No. 17 in the country. Individually, three Gators find themselves ranked including:
Sara Dahlstrom – No. 25
Carly Briggs – No. 45
Alicia Dudeney – No. 100
On the doubles side, the top two doubles teams for Florida are ranked nationally:
Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee – No. 21
Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis – No. 74
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