Gators Fall to No. 2 Georgia

Friday, March 15

Gainesville, FL

5 PM

Florida Gators

Georgia

Gators Fall to No. 2 Georgia

Friday, March 15, 2019 | Women's Tennis

By: Chad Smith

Results

Gators Fall to No. 2 Georgia
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 34 ranked University of Florida women's tennis team returned to the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex for a matchup against No. 2 Georgia on Friday. McCartney Kessler led the Gators as she claimed the lone point, as UF fell, 4-1.

The Bulldogs' tandem of Meg Kowalski and Marta Gonzalez bested the UF pair of Marlee Zein and Anastasia Kharitonova, 6-3, at the No. 3 position.

The Florida duo of Victoria Emma and McCartney Kessler responded with a victory at the No. 1 doubles spot, when they defeated the No. 74 ranked pair of Katarina Jokic and Lourdes Carle. Emma and Kessler jumped out to an early 3-0, after the pair broke serve twice. The UF pair went on to win 6-4.

Georgia took the doubles point when Elena Christofi and Vivian Wolff knocked off Ida Jarlskog and Tsveta Dimitrova at the No. 2 spot, 6-4.

The Bulldogs took a 2-0 lead after Christofi beat Dimitrova at the No. 5 singles position, 6-0 and 6-1.

At the No. 2 spot, the No. 16 ranked Gonzalez of UGA broke the No. 44 ranked Kessler's first serve. Kessler was unfazed and broke Gonzalez to tie the first set at 1-1. With the first set tied at 3-3, Gonzalez managed to break Kessler once again and took a slight lead. Kessler showed resilience as she took the final three games of the first set as she broke Gonzalez two more times and won the opening stanza, 6-4. After she found herself down 2-1 in the second, Kessler went on a roll and won the next five games and won the second frame, 6-2. Kessler cut the Georgia lead to 2-1.

The Bulldogs went up 3-1 when the No. 92 ranked Carle knocked off the No. 52 ranked Emma, 6-4 and 6-3, in the No. 3 singles match. Wolff, ranked No. 35 from Georgia, dropped the first set of the No. 4 matchup against Zein 7-5. Wolff went on to win the second set, 6-2, to force a third set. Wolff won the final frame 6-0 and clinched the match for UGA, 4-1.

Up Next
Sunday, March 17 | 1 p.m. ET
No. 34 Florida (6-6, 3-2) vs. No. 16 Tennessee (12-3, 2-1)
Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex | Gainesville, Fla.

#2 Georgia 4, #34 Florida 1
Doubles competition
1. Victoria Emma/McCartney Kessler (UF) def. No. 74 Katarina Jokic/Lourdes Carle (UGA) 6-4
2. Elena Christofi/Vivian Wolff (UGA) def. Ida Jarlskog/Tsveta Dimitrova (UF) 6-4
3. Meg Kowalski/Marta Gonzalez (UGA) def. Marlee Zein/Anastasia Kharitonova (UF) 6-3
Singles competition
No. 12 Ida Jarlskog (UF) vs. No. 1 Katarina Jokic (UGA) 7-5, unfinished
No. 44 McCartney Kessler (UF) def. No. 16 Marta Gonzalez (UGA) 6-4, 6-2
No. 92 Lourdes Carle (UGA) def. No. 52 Victoria Emma (UF) 6-4, 6-3
No. 35 Vivian Wolff (UGA) def. Marlee Zein (UF) 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
Elena Christofi (UGA) def. Tsveta Dimitrova (UF) 6-0, 6-1
Anastasia Kharitonova (UF) vs. No. 95 Meg Kowalski (UGA) 2-6, 6-4, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (3,1,2); Singles (5,2,3,4)

Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist

"I really think we're continuing to improve. At times, on almost every court, we played at a really high level. We still need to sustain that high level for longer periods."
"Overall, our level of play is improving and we are starting to be tougher. Our work ethic has improved the last two weeks in practice and that's one of the reasons we've seen some better play."

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