LAKE NONA, Fla. – The No. 48 University of Florida women's tennis team fell 4-3 in highly-contested match vs. No. 30 UCF Sunday night as part of the USTA's College MatchDay series played at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla.
Playing in front of 2,000 fans, most of which were there to cheer on the home town Knights, the Gators fought hard, but with the overall score tied at 3-3, couldn't break through in what was the deciding match on court six.
The Gators earned the doubles point and a pair of singles wins, but it wasn't enough as the Knights improved to 9-2 on the season.
After the teams battled back and forth in singles play, the result of the match came down to court six where freshman
Anastasia Kharitonova battled UCF's Nandini Sharma. The pivotal match went the distance and Kharitonova led 5-4 in the final set, but the freshman fell short, dropping a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 decision.
No. 12
Ida Jarlskog brought the Gators back from a 3-2 deficit to setup the final showdown on six after she battled to a gritty three-set victory on court one.
No. 52
Victoria Emma also picked up a singles win as she impressed with a 6-4, 6-2 victory on court four.
Florida opened the night with a win in doubles as the Gators snapped a five-match streak of dropping the doubles point. The freshmen combo of Kharitonova and
Marlee Zein took care of business with a 6-1 win on court three, and after a comeback bid from Emma and
McCartney Kessler fell short on court one, the verdict came down to court two where
Tsveta Dimitrova and Jarlskog took on Marie Mattel and Rebeka Stolmar. The tandem fell behind 3-1, but stormed back to win 6-3 and put the Gators ahead.
Sunday's win was UCF's first victory over Florida as the Gators' overall record in the series stands at 12-1.
Florida featured the same doubles and singles lineup for the third straight match.
Up Next
Friday, March 1 | 5 pmET
No. 48 Florida (3-4) vs. Ole Miss (3-3)
Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex | Gainesville, Fla.
Doubles Results
Ksenia Kuznetsova/Valeriya Zeleva def.
Victoria Emma/
McCartney Kessler (Florida), 6-4
Ida Jarlskog/
Tsveta Dimitrova (Florida) def. Marie Mattel/Rebeka Stolmar, 6-3
Anastasia Kharitonova/
Marlee Zein (Florida) def. Nandini Sharma/Natalia Serrano, 6-1
Doubles Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2
Singles Results
No. 12
Ida Jarlskog (Florida) def. Valeriya Zuleta, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Ksenia Kuznetsova def. No. 33
McCartney Kessler (Florida), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5)
Rebeka Stolmar def.
Marlee Zein (Florida), 6-4, 6-1
No. 52
Victoria Emma (Florida) def. Marie Mattel, 6-4, 6-2
Natalia Serrano def.
Tsveta Dimitrova (Florida), 6-3, 6-2
Nandini Sharma def.
Anastasia Kharitonova (Florida), 4-6, 6-3. 7-5
Singles Order of Finish: 5, 3, 4, 2,1, 6
Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
Overall thoughts on match…
"I was really pleased with our performance in doubles. We did put in some great work this past week and we focused a lot on it and I think our group really responded to it. It's positive of course to see McCartney (Kessler) and Victoria (Emma) really find their feet. I mean that's really going to help this team. Tonight it came down to one of our freshmen, who had the lead and lost it, but really it's going to be a great learning experience for her and the team as a whole. It's going to be a long trip home for us, clearly, but we are going to have to continue to work and look towards the long term because we are getting better. We may not see it now, but I really feel like we are improving."
"On Ida Jarlskog's play at No. 1 singles…
"Ida was marvelous at one playing against a world-class player. Anytime you have a dominant player at one, it's going to be great for the team. She's done a lot with working on her tempo and speed and being able to play at a sustained pace. You saw that today from her. She handled her opponent's pace quite well and fought back. She's made a lot of strides in that regard which helps her playing at one."
On what he learned from the team in non-conference play and message to team going to SEC season…
"We had to do a lot of growing obviously. What we talked about after the match briefly was that we have a brand new season now. I think we took it on the chin in a couples matches that if we played again we could definitely win, but you have to learn from it. I really feel like we are continuing to improve and that's all I can for from a young team like this."
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