The 4-1 victory over the Seminoles marked Florida’s third-consecutive top-25 victory.
LAKE NONA, Fla. – For the second time in a week, Florida women’s tennis took down in-state rival No. 24/16 Florida State, 4-1, to extend their season-opening win streak to six matches.
The No. 13/11 Gators are now 6-0 for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign, the last season that the Orange & Blue claimed the NCAA title. Florida State dropped to 4-2 on the season.
Florida was locked-in right away, as the duo of McCartney Kessler and Emma Shelton took care of business in a dominant 6-2 showing at the three doubles slot before the Intercollegiate Tennis Association No. 24 doubles squad of Carly Briggs and Marlee Zein took-down FSU’s Petra Hule and Lesedi Jacobs, 6-2.
The Seminoles wouldn’t go away without a fight, however. Down 1-0 as a team, No. 22 Hule battled Kessler in the top singles slot to tie the match at one following a 6-4, 6-2 victory.
Freshman Alicia Dudeney, playing in her second match at two singles, went to battle with Victoria Allen of Florida State, taking a close opening set, 7-6(4). The Hove, United Kingdom, native came out aggressive in the second set, downing her opponent, 6-3, to give UF a 2-0 advantage.
Following Dudeney’s victory, Briggs secured the third point of the match for the Gators at the four singles position. A back-and-forth first set saw the score tied at 5-5 late, but Briggs tied together consecutive wins for the 7-5 victory. Set two wasn’t nearly as contested, with Briggs giving her team a 3-1 lead following a 6-2 route in the second frame.
With three matches remaining, the Gators needed just one more point to secure their victory over the Seminoles. All three matches found themselves tied at one set apiece, but it would be Sydney Berlin to play clincher in Lake Nona.
Making her first appearance since the match against South Florida on Jan. 24, Berlin dropped a quick opening set to Kianah Motosono of Florida State at the six singles slot, 2-6. Berlin, part of a Florida squad who has prided themselves on their ability to adapt this season, did exactly that. The senior pressed Motosono in the final two sets, cruising to back-to-back 6-2 victories to give the Orange & Blue a 4-1 team win.
The Gators will now turn their attention to the Indoor National Championships from Feb. 11-14 in Madison, Wis. They earned their first bid to the Indoor Championships since 2018 following an ITA Kickoff regional win over Florida State in January.
SINGLES
No. 22 Petra Hule (FSU) def. McCartney Kessler: 6-4, 6-2
Alicia Dudeney def. Victoria Allen: 7-6(4), 6-3
No. 34 Marlee Zein vs. Lesedi Jacobs (FSU): 6-4, 2-6, 2-3 (unfinished)
Carly Briggs def. Olympe Lancelot (FSU): 7-5, 6-2
No. 87 Emma Shelton vs. Anna Arkadianou (FSU): 0-6, 6-2, 5-4 (unfinished)
Sydney Berlin def. Kianah Motosono (FSU): 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
DOUBLES
No. 24 Marlee Zein/Carly Briggs def. Hule/Jacobs (FSU): 6-2
No. 46 Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee vs. Allen/Motosono (FSU): 3-4 (unfinished)
McCartney Kessler/Emma Shelton def. Lancelot/Arkadianou (FSU): 6-2
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On how he felt about the match…
“It was a great win, you could tell tonight that one of the strengths of this team is grit and determination. I was just really pleased that after winning the doubles point, Florida State came out swinging hard on almost every court and it was nice to see that we were able to take that first punch and then really fight our way back in the match and look very strong at end of sets, certainly at the end of the match.”
On individual performances on Saturday…
“Getting Carly [Briggs] back in singles is really helping. She’s just a tremendous competitor, and then the clincher Sydney [Berlin], who got out-played completely in the first set, turned the match on its head and just dominated the next two sets to clinch it for us. I thought everybody did an outstanding job today. We got wins from everybody who played, so it was an outstanding day for the Gators.”
On looking ahead to the Indoor National Championships…
“We look forward to heading indoors and we have to make some adjustments now in a few things that we do. Perhaps this week we get to work at taking a little bit more risks and being more offensive to get used to playing indoors.”
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