Gators await NCAA Tournament fate on May 1 at 6 p.m. ET.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The fourth-seeded and 17th ranked Florida women’s tennis team gave top-seeded and No. 2 Texas A&M all they could handle Saturday in the SEC Semifinals, but ultimately fell 4-2 at the Billingsley Tennis Center, located on the campus of the University of Arkansas.
The matchup with Texas A&M (27-1, 13-0 SEC) came down to the final two courts of singles play. The doubles competition was everything one would expect from two of the top teams in the country duking it out in the SEC Tournament.
Emma Shelton and Sophie Williams started the scoring off for the Gators, winning 6-2 at No. 3 doubles. The duo notched their third win of the dual season together.
The other two doubles matches were locked into back-and-forth battles, with both courts being tied at five-all at the same time before eventually going into tiebreak sets.
At No. 1 doubles, Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee, the No. 21 ranked doubles team in the country, broke their 5-5 tie with four straight points to sneak ahead 6-5. After the Aggies took the next game, the top singles match went to a tiebreaker set. The No. 25 ranked Jayci Goldsmith/Salma Ewing got off to a fast start in the tiebreak set, and would go on to win 7-6 (4) at the top doubles spot.
No. 74 Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis stayed persistent, forcing a tiebreak set after being down 4-5 and 5-6 during the doubles point. After fighting back all match, the 55th-ranked Aggies duo of Mia Kupres and Mary Stoiana prevailed, winning 7-6 (3) to clinch the point.
The Gators bounced back strong to start singles, winning five first of the first six sets against the second-ranked team in the nation.
The Aggies went up 2-0 after a 6-1, 6-1 win by No. 2 Mary Stoiana over No. 25 Sara Dahlstrom.
Dudeney notched career win number 100 with a win a straight-set 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 3 singles. The 100th ranked singles player in the country snapped No. 57 Mia Kurpres’ nine match winning streak to get the Gators on the board. She now leads the team with 15 dual singles wins this season.
At No. 2 singles, Briggs burst out the gate with a 6-2 first set win. However, No. 73 Salma Ewing didn’t back down, taking the next two sets to give the Aggies their third point.
After falling behind initially, Gailis stormed back at No. 4 singles to take the first set in a 7-6 (3) tiebreaker over No. 115 Goldsmith. After dropping the second set, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week notched a 7-5 third set win to claim her 14th dual win of the spring, and cut into Texas A&M’s lead.
Spee jumped out to a 7-5 first set win at No. 6 singles, but ran out of steam towards the end, dropping 7-5, 1-6, 1-6 to Jeanette Mireles as the Aggies clinched a spot in the SEC Championships Match.
On court five, Emily De Oliveira was in a tight third-set battle. After splitting the first two sets, the third set went unfinished for the Bradenton native, 6-4, 4-6, 4-5 uf.
The Gators will have just under two weeks to prepare for the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, scheduled to begin on May 5. The NCAA Tournament selection show is set for May 1.
QUOTES FROM THE COURT
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On the match…
“Awesome doubles point. We got a little unlucky at the end there for us to lose it. We responded really well, started off strong. I just like the way this team is trending up in our level of play. A lot of credit has to go to the Texas A&M team for weathering the storm and taking it to us at the end. We battered them first five sets and played with great emotion and passion. I just like the way we played. Texas A&M was strong at the end, I just want to congratulate them. They really showed today that they’re champions, they are used to winning. We came after it today, and were just shy of taking it away from them.”
Doubles Results
1. #25 Jayci Goldsmith/Salma Ewing (TAM) def. #21 Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee (UF) 7-6 (7-4)
2. #55 Mia Kupres/Mary Stoiana (TAM) def. #74 Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis (UF) 7-6 (7-3)
3. Emma Shelton/Sophie Williams (UF) def. Gianna Pielet/Jeanette Mireles (TAM) 6-2
Order of Finish: 3,1,2
Singles Results
1. #2 Mary Stoiana (TAM) def. #25 Sara Dahlstrom (UF) 6-1, 6-1
2. #73 Salma Ewing (TAM) def. #45 Carly Briggs (UF) 2-6, 6-2, 6-4
3. #100 Alicia Dudeney (UF) def. #57 Mia Kupres (TAM) 6-3, 6-4
4. Rachel Gailis (UF) def. #115 Jayci Goldsmith (TAM) 7-6 (7-3), 1-6, 7-5
5. Daria Smetannikov (TAM) vs. Emily de Oliveira (UF) 4-6, 6-4, 5-4, unfinished
6. Jeanette Mireles (TAM) def. Bente Spee (UF) 5-7, 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 1,3,2,4,6
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