TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The University of Florida women's tennis team finished with four singles wins and one doubles victory as it finished off its first day of competition at the ITA Southeast Regional Championships Friday on the campus of Florida State.
Junior
McCartney Kessler picked up victories No. 11 and No. 12 on the fall as she won all four of her sets Friday to punch a ticket to tomorrow's round of 16. Sophomores
Sydney Berlin and
Marlee Zein both added victories in the round of 64 to open the day, but came up short in the following round.
No. 23 Kessler continues to lead the charge as she sits just one win away from matching her total from last season's tournament campaign.
Florida began the day with doubles play, splitting a pair of matches. Berlin and senior
Tsveta Dimitrova teamed up to topple Georgia Tech's Victoria Flores and Rosie Garcia Gross, 8-5 while Kessler and Zein fell by the same tally to Miami's Yuna Ito and Nada Dimovska.
UF then posted a 3-1 mark in the opening round of singles play. Taking on
Katie Kubicz of Stetson, Zein rolled to a 6-4, 6-3 victory. Kessler knocked off Kennesaw State's Taylor Dean in straight sets while Berlin battled to a tight, 7-5, 7-6 victory over UNF's Ana Paulo Melilo. Dimitrova, the lone Gator to face off against a ranked player in the opening round, fell 7-5, 6-3 to No. 29 Valeriya Zeleva of UCF.
After three Gators advanced to the round of 32, just one came out a victor. Kessler edged Miami freshman Nada Dimovska, 6-0, 6-3 while Zein saw her three-match winning streak come to a close, falling 6-4, 6-2 to FAU's Radka Buzkova. Berlin, taking on her first ranked opponent of the fall slate, dropped a 6-1, 6-4 decision to No. 51 Martina Kudelova of FAU.
Despite her opening round loss, Dimitrova received an opportunity to continue competition and she earned a win via walkover in the consolation round.
Inclement weather caused considerable delays in the action and forced the competition indoors midway through the day.
Due to the threat of Tropical Storm Nestor, Saturday's schedule of play has been pushed back and competition is now slated to begin at 2 p.m. ET.
With Saturday's matchups set, No. 23 Kessler is set to take on No. 113 Elena Christofi of Georgia while Berlin and Dimitrova take on FSU's duo of Sasha Hill and Petra Hule.
Meanwhile in South Carolina, freshman
Layne Sleeth competed in her second day at the 25K Florence, an ITF event. Sleeth, who recorded a pair of impressive victories to secure a spot in the quarterfinals, fell 6-2, 6-1 to Claire Liu.
Quotes from the Court – Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
Takeaways from doubles…
"In doubles, the highlight was obviously Syd and Tsveta and the way they competed. They played tactically really well and continued to make first serves and come up with strong returns. I was pleased with how they put themselves in position and formation to succeed. Those two have only been practicing together for about a week so that was good to see."
Takeaways from singles…
"We had too many unforced errors to be at the top of our game today. I was a little disappointed on how we gave away that much, especially on a first day. McCartney was great; she played with desire, with pin-point accuracy and with suffocating consistency. I'm looking forward to seeing us get back out there and compete tomorrow."
Results
Friday, Oct. 18
Doubles Main Draw Round of 32
Sydney Berlin and
Tsveta Dimitrova def. Victoria Flores and Rosie Garcia Gross (Georgia Tech), 8-5
Yuna Ito and Nada Dimovska (Miami) def. McCartney Kessler and
Marlee Zein, 8-5
Singles Main Draw Round of 64
No. 29 Valeriya Zeleva (UCF) def.
Tsveta Dimitrova, 7-5, 6-3
Sydney Berlin def. Ana Paulo Melilo (UNF), 7-5, 7-6 (1)
No. 23
McCartney Kessler def. Taylor Dean (Kennesaw State), 7-5, 6-1
No. 85
Marlee Zein def.
Katie Kubicz (Stetson), 6-4, 6-3
Singles Main Draw Round of 32
No. 51 Martina Kudelova (FAU) def.
Sydney Berlin, 6-1, 6-4
No. 23
McCartney Kessler vs. Nada Dimovska (Miami), 6-0, 6-3
Radka Buzkova (FAU) def. No. 85
Marlee Zein, 6-4, 6-2
Schedule
Saturday, Oct. 19
(all times listed in ET)
Doubles Main Draw Round of 32
2:30 p.m. -
Sydney Berlin and
Tsveta Dimitrova vs. Sasha Hill and Petra Hule (FSU)
Doubles Main Draw Round of 16
Following
Singles Main Draw Round of 16
Following – No. 23
McCartney Kessler vs. No. 113 Elena Christofi (Georgia)
Singles Consolation
TBD –
Tsveta Dimitrova vs. TBD
*Consolation rounds were originally scheduled for Saturday but with the adjusted schedule, they may not be played.
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