Gators tennis secures its eleventh consecutive SEC win with an intense 4-3 victory over the Gamecocks. Florida now advances to the 2024 SEC Tournament semifinals and will seek redemption over Texas A&M.
ATHENS, Ga. – No. 14 Florida women’s tennis saw its first victory of the 2024 SEC Tournament defeating No. 19 South Carolina 4-3 in a challenging quarterfinals matchup. The win over South Carolina confirms the Gators’ spot in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament and marks Florida’s eleventh consecutive win.
The Gators started the contest with another dominant performance in doubles with Rachel Gailis and Bente Spee defeating Olympe Lancelot and Misa Malkin 6-1. Gailis and Spee were up 5-0 before South Carolina tallied a singular game at 5-1. The duo quickly retaliated to close out 6-1 and secure Florida’s first win of the day.
Clinching the doubles point for Florida was Carly Briggs and Qavia Lopez on court two. The pair challenged Shachar Biran and Elise Mills from the jump and ultimately broke their serve at 5-2 to solidify a 6-2 win. Lopez and Briggs now hold a four-match win streak and gave Florida a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
The start of singles play was a battle with two matches going into extra games and one first set tiebreaker. Florida rallied to take three first sets on courts one, three, and five and Carly Briggs was the first to close out on the singles side. Briggs faced Shahar Biran and was tested in the first set trailing 5-4 with Biran holding several set point opportunities. Briggs found a way to fight back and tie it up at five games all before gaining the lead at 6-5. Briggs was then down 40-0 with Biran on track to force a first set tiebreaker but without hesitation Briggs won four points in a row to secure the set 7-5. Briggs determination carried over to the second set blanking Biran 6-0 to give the Gators its second point of the match.
The Gators led 2-0 before the Gamecocks tallied its first point of the day. Alicia Dudeney put up a solid fight on court four against Elise Mills but ultimately fell 6-4, 6-4. Rachel Gailis fired back for Florida with a three-set win against No. 16 Sarah Hamner. Gailis dominated from all angles, taking the first set 6-4 before Hamner challenged her in the second at 4-4. Hamner took the final two games of the second sit to force a third set on court one.
Eager to grab another top-20 win, Rachel Gailis quickly went up 4-0 on Sarah Hamner in the final set. Hamner’s only game of the set came from deuce point at 4-0 to put the score at 4-1. From there Gailis secured the final two games to garner a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory and put Florida at a 3-1 advantage.
Sara Dahlstrom was next to finish in the quarterfinal matchup. Dahlstrom was overpowered by No. 9 Ayana Akli falling 7-5, 7-5. Dahlstrom started to make a comeback in the second set getting a 5-4 lead before Akli pushed ahead once more to secure the Gamecocks second point of the day.
The score stood at 3-2 with two matches still out; Qavia Lopez on court five and Bente Spee on court six. Spee was ahead 3-0 in the first set before Misa Malkin found her grounding and initiated a comeback to force a lengthy first set tiebreaker with a final score of 7-6 (12-10). Spee found herself at a 3-0 advantage once more at the start of the second set but similar to the first, Malkin came from behind to claim the set 6-4 and tie the match at 3-3.
Florida’s fate in the 2024 SEC Tournament was now in the hands of Qavia Lopez as she battled Olympe Lancelot in a third set. Lopez claimed the first set 6-3 but fell 6-4 in the second. With all eyes on Lopez she remained calm and poised on court five. The first few games of the third went back and forth before Lopez pulled ahead, capitalizing on Lancelot’s unforced errors. Lopez went on a much-needed run to close out the final set 6-3 and punch the Gators’ ticket to the semifinals.
HEAD COACH ROLAND THORNQVIST:
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist on Florida’s second consecutive win over South Carolina:
“I am really proud of the team. It was a massive battle five days ago when we played them at home and we knew it was going to be the same here. The match certainly didn’t disappoint and I thought we played really well in doubles, just like we did last week, which gives us good momentum going into singles.”
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist on his message to the team going into the semifinals:
“I told them to continue taking care of their bodies and do those little things that we have been doing for the past month that has translated to playing good tennis. We also need to keep having an unemotional approach and focus on the Gators not just the moment or who we are playing, that will give us the best chance to play great tennis tomorrow.”
QUICK HITS:
* With the win over South Carolina, Florida extends its win streak to 11
* Florida has now defeated South Carolina twice in less than a week
* Saturday, Apr. 13, 4-2 in Gainesville, Fla
* Friday, Apr. 19, 4-3 in Athens, Ga
* Florida has now reached the SEC semifinals for three straight seasons
* 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24
* The Gators have secured the doubles point over its opponent in 10 consecutive matches
* Carly Briggs holds the longest win streak on Florida’s current roster, winning seven consecutive singles matches
* Rachel Gailis and Qavia Lopez have now won six consecutive doubles matches
* Gailis reached 10 SEC singles wins for the season
* Nine of these victories were claimed on court one
Singles: (order of finish 3,4,2,1,6,5)
1. #8 Rachel Gailis (UF) def. #16 Sarah Hamner (SC) 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
2. #9 Ayana Akli (SC) def. #71 Sara Dahlstrom (UF) 7-5, 7-5
3. #68 Carly Briggs (UF) def. Shahar Biran (SC) 7-5, 6-0
4. Elise Mills (SC) def. Alicia Dudeney (UF) 6-4, 6-4
5. #111 Qavia Lopez (UF) def. Olympe Lancelot (SC) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
6. Misa Malkin (SC) def. Bente Spee (UF) 7-6 (12-10), 6-4
Doubles: (order of finish 3,2)
1. #50 Alicia Dudeney/Malwina Rowinska (UF) vs. #22 Sarah Hamner/Ayana Akli (SC) 2-5, unfinished
2. Carly Briggs/Qavia Lopez (UF) def. Elise Mills/Shahar Biran (SC) 6-2
3. Rachel Gailis/Bente Spee (UF) def. Olympe Lancelot/Misa Malkin (SC) 6-1
NEXT UP:
The Gators will take on No. 12 Texas A&M in the semifinals of the 2024 SEC Tournament. The match will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday and be held at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
SATURDAY MATCH COVERAGE:
ESPN/SECN+<https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/f7847f65-603f-4e70-a59a-6645bfa16fb6>
Live Stats<https://georgiadogs.com/sports/2017/6/17/sports-w-tennis-spec-rel-vid-stream-html>
Tournament Page<https://www.secsports.com/championships/womens-tennis-championship>
FOLLOW THE GATORS:
SOCIAL: Twitter<https://twitter.com/Gatorswtn> | Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/GatorsTN> | Instagram<https://www.instagram.com/gatorswtn/?hl=en>
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
