The Gators will open against Florida International on Saturday afternoon.
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TALAHASSEE, Fla. – After an impressive 2-0 start to their dual season last weekend, Florida women’s tennis hits the road for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Kickoff Weekend from Jan. 29-30 at Florida State University.
The Gators will open with Florida International in the first round of the weekend at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday and will either matchup with No. 18 Florida State or Illinois on Sunday. Florida is 9-0 all time against the Panthers, most recently earning a 4-0 victory in Gainesville on Jan. 29, 2017.
Last weekend, the Orange & Blue improved to 43-2 all-time in home-openers after defeating North Florida, 6-1, on Sunday. The Gators followed that performance with an impressive 7-0 sweep of South Florida on Monday to earn a 2-0 start to the season.
With Alicia Dudeny and Carly Briggs out on Monday, Bente Spee, Sydney Berlin and Sara Dahlstrom all moved-up in singles play. Rising to the occasion, the three all earned victories to help UF to their second win in as many days.
In perhaps one of the grittiest matches of the weekend, Spee faced off with Laura Pellicer of South Florida in the four singles match. The freshman fell behind 5-2 early in the first set, but maintained composure and turned the tide to rally for a 7-5 first set win. In a second set that was not nearly as contested as the first, Spee held on for a 6-2 win.
Preserving the sweep for UF against the Bulls, No. 87 Emma Shelton also had to battle from behind after dropping the opening set against Amelie Boy, 7-6 (4). The junior put together a dominant second set, 6-2, to even the match at one. In the 10-point third set tiebreaker, Shelton held control through the duration, winning the set and match, 10-6.
Saturday afternoon will mark FIU’s first dual competition of the season. Last year, the Panthers finished 12-2 and advanced to the Conference USA Championship match where they fell to No. 34 Old Dominion, 4-2. They did manage to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, however, ending their season against No. 23 Miami (FL) in the first round, 4-0.
The Panthers finished the 2021 campaign ranked No. 38 in the ITA Rankings.
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