Gators Chomp No. 16 Lady Volunteers

Sunday, March 17

Gainesville, FL

1 PM

Florida Gators

Tennessee

Freshman Marlee Zein smiles during Florida's win over Tennessee on Sunday afternoon.

Gators Chomp No. 16 Lady Volunteers

Sunday, March 17, 2019 | Women's Tennis

By: Chad Smith

Results

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 34-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team returned to the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex for an SEC matchup against No. 16 Tennessee on Sunday. The Gators put forth a strong performance in singles play as they collected four victories and won the match 4-2.

The No. 8 doubles team of Sadie Hammond and Kaitlin Staines knocked off the Gators' duo of Victoria Emma and McCartney Kessler in the No. 1 match, 6-1.

The UF tandem of Ida Jarlskog and Tsveta Dimitrova collected a doubles win against Maia Haumuller and Tenika McGiffin, 6-1, in the No. 2 spot.

The Lady Vols earned the doubles point as Rebeka Mertena and Johanna Silva bested Marlee Zein and Anastasia Kharitonova, 6-3.

The 12th-ranked Jarlskog fell behind early, 2-0, against Hammond in the No. 1 singles match. Jarlskog battled back and broke Hammond's serve three times as she claimed the first set, 6-3. Jarlskog used her momentum from the opening frame and jumped out to an early 3-0 in set two. She went on to win the second stanza, 6-3, and tied the overall match, 1-1.

In the No. 2 position, Kessler broke Staines' opening serve and followed by taking a game on her serve, as she opened the match, 2-0. Staines managed to break Kessler's serve and tie the set at 2-2. Kessler closed the first frame on a 4-0 run and won the set, 6-2. The second stanza was a back-and-forth battle. Each player broke the others serve twice and forced a tiebreaker. In the tiebreaker, Staines started on a 4-2 run, but Kessler was resilient and tied the tiebreaker at 4-4. With the tiebreaker tied at 6-6, Kessler took control and won the next two serves to win the tiebreaker, 8-6. Kessler won the match 6-2 and 7-6 (8-6) which put the Gators on top of Tennessee, 2-1.

Silva won the first set in the No. 3 singles match against Emma 6-4. Emma bounced back and stormed out to an early 4-0 lead in the second set. The two exchanged service breaks, but Emma's early lead helped her control the second frame, 6-2. Emma started the third and decisive set on a 4-0 run. Silva managed to break Emma's service and came back to tie the set at 5-5. Emma was unfazed by the comeback, as she broke Silva's next serve and followed that by winning on serve. Emma won the match, 4-6, 6-2, and 7-5. Her victory extended the Florida lead to 3-1.

The Lady Vols pulled within one, when Ariadna Riley bested Dimitrova in the No. 5 spot, 6-3 and 6-3.

Mertena jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the No. 4 position against Zein. Zein recovered quickly and tied the first set, 3-3, after she broke Mertena's serve. The two would fight back-and-forth and eventually needed a tiebreaker to decide the opening frame. Zein started the tiebreaker on a 5-1 run and it proved to be too much to overcome as she won the tiebreaker 7-5. Zein dropped the first game in the second, but rebounded fast as she won the next four games and claimed a 4-1 lead. Mertena was able to break Zein's service and pulled within two, 4-2, but Zein's early lead proved to be the deciding factor in the second. Zein claimed a 7-6 (7-5) and 6-3 win against Mertena, which clinched the match for the Gators.

Florida improved to 7-6 overall and 4-2 in conference play with the victory against Tennessee. The Gators return to the courts on Friday in Lexington, Ky.

Up Next
Friday, March 22 | 5 p.m. ET
No. 34 Florida (7-6, 4-2) at No. 21 Kentucky (14-3, 4-2)
Hilary J. Boone Tennis Center | Lexington, Ky.

#34 Florida 4, #16 Tennessee 2
Doubles competition
1. #8 Sadie Hammond/Kaitlin Staines (UT) def. Victoria Emma/McCartney Kessler (UF) 6-1
2. Ida Jarlskog/Tsveta Dimitrova (UF) def. Maia Haumuller/Tenika McGiffin (UT) 6-1
3. Rebeka Mertena/Johanna Silva (UT) def. Marlee Zein/Anastasia Kharitonova (UF) 6-3
Singles competition
1. #12 Ida Jarlskog (UF) def. #65 Sadie Hammond (UT) 6-3, 6-3
2. #44 McCartney Kessler (UF) def. Kaitlin Staines (UT) 6-2, 7-6 (8-6)
3. #52 Victoria Emma (UF) def. Johanna Silva (UT) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
4. Marlee Zein (UF) def. Rebeka Mertena (UT) 7-6 (7-5), 6-3
5. Ariadna Riley (UT) def. Tsveta Dimitrova (UF) 6-3, 6-3
6. Anastasia Kharitonova (UF) vs. Tenika McGiffin (UT) 6-0, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (1,2,3,5,4)

Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist

"I thought we saw some fantastic tennis in singles."
"The reaction by the three players that went on right after the doubles loss was really good and set the tone for the rest of the match. Ida was clean the whole time. McCartney played really well and did an amazing job closing it out."
"The highlight of the day I think was Victoria and the way she carried herself. We talked a lot about her body language and the warrior mentality with her."
"Marlee played the best match she's played as a Gator!"