The Gators moved to 1-0 to start the season with a 6-1 victory.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida women’s tennis began the 2022 dual season on a high note, defeating North Florida, 6-1, on Sunday afternoon at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
All three doubles squads picked-up victories to get the match started, giving Florida an early 1-0 advantage in the match. Marlee Zein and Carly Briggs, ranked No. 24 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s doubles rankings, took down Kit Gulihur and Isabel Oliveira, 6-3, to clinch the point after McCartney Kessler and Emma Shelton took down Sean Lodzki and Kendall Nash, 6-2. The freshman pair of Alicia Dudeney and Bente Spee completed the sweep, overtaking Anslee Long and Summer Yardley in a highly-contested match, 7-5.
After taking the doubles point, Dudeney earned a quick victory at the fourth singles slot, defeating Long 6-1, 6-1, to push the Gator lead to 2-0. Sydney Berlin and Bente Spee, at the sixth and fifth spots, respectively, also earned victories to extend the Gators’ lead to 4-0. At the sixth spot, Berlin took down Lodzki: 6-3, 6-2, while Spee made quick work of Oliveira at five: 6-2, 6-0.
At three singles Carly Briggs, in her first dual outing for the Gators, defeated Annabelle Davis in a three-set battle: 6-1, 2-6, 10-6. North Florida earned their first point of the match at one singles as No. 32 Gulihur held off Kessler: 7-6 (7-5), 6-4. The Orange & Blue earned their sixth and final point of the match when No. 87 Shelton pulled away from Yardley after a close first set: 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
The Gators will be back in action tomorrow afternoon, Jan. 24, at 3 p.m. ET against the South Florida Bulls.
SINGLES
No. 32 Gulihur (UNF) def. Kessler: 7-6 (7-5), 6-4
No. 87 Shelton def. Yardley (UNF): 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
Briggs def. Davis (UNF): 6-1, 2-6, 10-6
Dudeney def. Long (UNF): 6-1, 6-1
Spee def. Oliveira (UNF): 6-2, 6-0
Berlin def. Lodzski (UNF): 6-3, 6-2
DOUBLES
No. 24 Briggs/Zein def. Gulihur/Oliveira (UNF): 6-3
No. 46 Dudeney/Spee def. Long/Yardley (UNF): 7-5
Kessler/Shelton def. Lodzki/Nash (UNF): 6-2
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On his overall thoughts against UNF…
“It was a great day for us, especially for having four new Gators out there. There were clearly some nerves at the beginning of the day, but we managed to overcome those and I thought our body language was good, helping us to several good performances.”
On the quality of doubles play…
“All three of our doubles squads played extremely well today and I think our doubles teams are going to be a strength for us this season. We have the ability to invert our lineup and achieve the same result. I was especially pleased to see Carly and Marlee pick up a win for us. Gulihur is a very talented player and we’ve had trouble with UNF before. Overall I’m very excited.”
On the newcomers’ performance…
Our freshmen have been amazing. They all work hard and are sponges for knowledge; they just want as much knowledge and new stuff as possible. That kind of drive, paired with their talent, makes a great combination. She’s [Dudeney] very talented at that four spot and she’s going to go through people like that. Carly and Emma are new as well, and while not freshmen, your first match in that Gator blue is always special. There were some nerves early, but all four of our newcomers did a great job.”
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