Gators Impressive in Blanking Texas A&M

Sunday, March 11

Gainesville, FL

1 PM

Florida Gators

Texas A&M

Freshman McCartney Kessler won her singles and doubles matches on Sunday.

Gators Impressive in Blanking Texas A&M

Sunday, March 11, 2018 | Women's Tennis

Final Scores (PDF)

Florida has earned a 4-0 shutout in its last three matches.

By: Kathy Cafazzo

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Leading into Sunday morning, big rainstorms were predicted in the Gainesville area which would mean the Gators would have to play host to Texas A&M at their indoor facility. Instead, barely a cloud was in the sky and Florida played like a team not taking any chances of having to move its match, making quick work of the Aggies, 4-0, at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex Sunday.

Doubles action was a little more drawn out, however, and featured a handful of momentum shifts before Florida won the doubles point with wins on all three courts.

Josie Kuhlman, Anna Danilina and McCartney Kessler won their respective singles matches in straight sets to wrap up the Gators' sixth consecutive team victory, including their fourth straight in Southeastern Conference play.

Doubles the Fun

Florida won 6-2 on court one in just 26 minutes. The other two matches were battles until the final point, which happened to be played at the exact same time and the Gators won both in 53 minutes to take the doubles point for the eighth time this season.
Court 1: Anna Danilina and Victoria Emma jumped out to a 4-0 lead looked dominate through their match. Emma held at love for a 5-1 lead and then Danilina served out to earn the 6-2 win.
Court 2: McCartney Kessler and Josie Kuhlman were playing their match point at the exact same time as the match on court 3, and finished just seconds later with a 7-5 victory. The Gator pair broke for a 5-3 lead and held three match points in that ninth game, but the Aggies wouldn't budge and won the next two games, having to fight off an additional match point in the 10th game. The Gators had three more match points in the 11th game, but again couldn't finish and were forced to break Texas A&M in the 12th game on their eighth match-point.
Court 3: Katie Kubicz and Peggy Porter produced the comeback match of the day, rallying from receiving down 5-1 to post a 7-6 (4) win that clinched the doubles point. The Gator tandem lost the first point of the tiebreak and it was even at 2-all when it won three consecutive points for a 5-2 lead, closing out the victory four points later.

All the Singles Ladies

Florida won the first three games on five of the six singles courts, taking five of the six first sets and eventually posting a trio of straight-set wins and the dual match victory.
Court 1: Anna Danilina was one game short of completing her match on Friday and she expressed her desire to be able to finish her match on Sunday, which she did in convincing fashion, 6-2, 6-1, and gave the Gators a 3-0 lead.
Court 2: Senior Josie Kuhlman produced her second straight-set singles win of the weekend, as she clocked in a 6-0, 6-2 victory for a 2-0 Gator advantage.
Court 3: play was abandoned once the dual match was clinched; freshman Victoria Emma held a 6-1, 5-2 lead
Court 4: Freshman McCartney Kessler provided the clinching dual match honors with her 6-1, 6-4 victory in 69 minutes.
Court 5: play was abandoned once the dual match was clinched; senior Peggy Porter played long rallies throughout her match and had just won the first game of the second set after dropping a grueling first set, 7-6 (6)
Court 6: play was abandoned once the dual match was clinched; freshman Katie Kubicz won her first set 6-3 and was serving down 5-4 in the second

Doubles the Fun

The Gators won the doubles point for the seventh time this season (6-1 record when winning the doubles point) with individual victories on courts two and three.
Court 1: LSU won 6-3 and was the first match to finish. The match was on-serve until the eighth game, where the Tigers got the lone break of the entire match and held for victory.
Court 2: This became the deciding double-point match and the Gators won 6-3 in 34 minutes. There were three late breaks in the match, with the Gators coming out on top and Josie Kuhlman serving out for the win.
Court 3: The match was on-serve through the first four games until the Gators broke and wouldn't drop another game en route to the 6-2 victory in 30 minutes.

Florida vs. Texas A&M: The UPDATED Series

8-Match Series: The Gators improved to 6-2 vs. the Aggies. The series began in 2013 when Texas A&M joined the SEC. UF's last loss was at the 2014 SEC tournament when Texas A&M took the 4-3 thriller.
Last Year: The Gators defeated the Aggies 4-0 on March 6, 2017 in College Station.
Rainy Days: While rain threatened on Sunday, it didn't become a factor. However, the last three times the Gators have played the Aggies, there had been rain, forcing the match either indoors or to be postponed.

A Glance at the No. 22 Gators (9-4, 4-0 SEC)

What Just Happened: The Gators wrapped up its home weekend with 4-0 victories against LSU and Texas A&M
See Ya' Later: after playing nine straight road matches, the Gators played two home matches this weekend – only to return to the road again for their next four
Of Note: Florida has won six consecutive dual matches, including four in SEC action.
Individual Rankings: Singles – No. 15 Anna Danilina, No. 45 Josie Kuhlman, No. 100 Victoria Emma; Doubles –No. 15 Anna Danilina & Victoria Emma

A Glance at the Aggies (10-4, 1-3 SEC)

Other SEC Matches: Texas A&M opened its SEC season at home with a 4-1 win against No. 17 Tennessee before losing to No. 10 Georgia, 4-2 and No. 11 South Carolina, 4-0.
Individual Rankings: Singles – No. 111 Domenica Gonzalez
Rolling Early: After winning their first six matches of the season, as well as nine of their first 10, the Aggies have lost three straight.

What's Next for the Gators

Who: Gators at No. 7 Georgia (9-2, 4-0 SEC)
Where: Dan Magill Tennis Complex * Athens, Ga.
When: Friday at 5 p.m.
Live Video & Scoring: http://georgiadogs.com/sports/2017/6/17/sports-w-tennis-spec-rel-vid-stream-html.aspx

Quickie Quote from Coach Roland Thornqvist
"I thought we played really well. The doubles point became a little interesting. A lot of credit to our number three doubles team – looked like we were down and out but they figured a couple things out and we sensed that once we got that change-over to 5-4 that we were doing something right and had some momentum. They handled themselves and played really well in the tiebreaker.

"After we won the doubles point, you could tell by most of the first-set scores that we played downhill. We were feeling good.

"We held serve on our home court this weekend and now we have another massive road spell coming our way here. So far, I think we're doing just about everything right."

Postmatch Video Interviews

Gator Coach Roland Thornqvist - https://youtu.be/vmrKxrQGwu0
Senior Anna Danilina – https://youtu.be/qRlgnXiyTb4
Freshman McCartney Kessler – https://youtu.be/J8C4qnD63lo
Senior Peggy Porter – https://youtu.be/gONuw9R2OFQ

Match 13
No. 35 Texas A&M at No. 22 Florida
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex * Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, March 11, 2018

Final: Florida def. Texas A&M, 4-0

Doubles (order of finish: 1, 3,*2)
1. #15 Anna Danilina/Victoria Emma (UF) def. Domenica Gonzalez/Eva Paalma (A&M) 6-2
2. McCartney Kessler/Josie Kuhlman (UF) def. Iulia Ivascu/Tatiana Makarova (A&M) 7-5
3. Katie Kubicz/Peggy Porter (UF) def. Dorthea Faa-Hviding/Riley McQuaid (A&M) 7-6 (7-4)*

Singles (order of finish: 2, 1, 4*)
1. Anna Danilina (UF) def. Domenica Gonzalez (A&M) 6-2, 6-1
2. Josie Kuhlman (UF) def. Macarena Olivares (A&M) 6-0, 6-2
3. Victoria Emma (UF) vs. Eva Paalma (A&M) 6-1, 5-2, unfinished
4. McCartney Kessler (UF) def. Tatiana Makarova (A&M) 6-1, 6-4*
5. Peggy Porter (UF) vs. Riley McQuaid (A&M) 6-7 (6-8), 1-0, unfinished
6. Katie Kubicz (UF) vs. Dorthea Faa-Hviding (A&M) 6-3, 4-5, unfinished

Match Notes:
Texas A&M 10-4, 1-3 SEC; National ranking #35
Florida 9-4, 4-0 SEC; National ranking #22
T-2:04 A-288

Gator Pronunciations for this release