Bente Spee and Alicia Dudeney will represent the Gators in the semi-final round on Sunday.
LAS VEGAS – The freshman duo of Bente Spee and Alicia Dudeney earned a spot in the semi-final round of doubles competition at the Freeman Memorial tournament following a convincing victory in the quarterfinals on Saturday morning.
Spee and Dudeney, ranked No. 46 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, played their way into the semi-final round of the main draw after defeating Pepperdine’s Shiori Fukuda/Nikki Redelijk, 6-1, on Saturday morning.
The pair will open Sunday’s competition against Elysia Bolton/Elise Wagle of UCLA at 1 p.m. ET with finals to follow if they earn a victory.
In consolation singles, three gators picked up victories on day two in Las Vegas. McCartney Kessler earned her first ranked-win of the season, taking down No. 49 Sasha Vagramov of UCLA in straight sets: 6-3, 6-2. Carly Briggs, a transfer for the Gators from Tennessee, defeated Oklahoma State’s Martina Zerulo: 6-0, 6-2, while Sydney Berlin took down CoCo Zhao from UNLV: 6-0, 6-2.
Sunday’s action is slated to begin with the doubles semi-final round at 1 p.m. ET.
QUOTABLES
Assistant Coach Lauren Embree
“Going into today, all we were focused on was being better than yesterday. The girls came out strong in singles play and I was extremely happy with the way they competed and looked on the court. We stress the importance of being able to handle adversity and creating positive self-talk, and I think as a unit we are making great strides in those areas. The team is really looking forward to ending tomorrow on a high note.”
SINGLES
#93 Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. #34 Marlee Zein (UF) 4-6, 6-0, 6-2
Angelica Blake (STAN) def. #87 Emma Shelton (UF) 6-2, 6-0
Carly Briggs (UF) def. Martina Zerulo (OSU) 6-0, 6-2
Sydney Berlin (UF) def. CoCo Zhao (UNLV) 6-0, 6-2
McCartney Kessler (UF) def. #49 Sasha Vagramov (UCLA) 6-3, 6-2
Sofia Rojas (OSU) def. Bente Spee (UF) 6-3, 6-2
DOUBLES
(4) #46 Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee (UF) def. Shiori Fukuda/Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) 6-1
Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. (2) #24 Marlee Zein/Carly Briggs (UF) 6-3
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