Results (PDF)
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The No. 31 University of Florida women's tennis team (9-8, 6-4) picked up its second straight top 25 victory on the road with a 4-2 win over No. 12 Texas A&M (18-5, 6-4) Sunday afternoon at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Florida earned one of its best victories of the season as No. 67
Victoria Emma clinched it for the Gators with a 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 triumph over Tatiana Makarova on court three.
A pair of freshman,
Marlee Zein and
Sydney Berlin, accounted for UF's other two singles wins as the Gators rode the momentum of winning the doubles point to their fifth road victory of the season.
Taking on a Texas A&M doubles unit that featured three ranked pairings, the Gators came out focused and claimed victories on courts two and three to secure the doubles point. Dimitrova/Jarlskog cruised to a 6-1 win over No. 55 McBryde/Townsend, notching its first victory over a ranked foe this dual match season.
After Kessler/Emma dropped a 6-3 decision to No. 63 Makarova/Goldsmith, the attention shifted to court three where Zein and Berlin took on No. 67 McQuaid/Quiterio. Berlin and Zein surged out to a 4-2 lead but saw the Texas A&M tandem counter and grab a 6-5 advantage. With its backs up against the wall, Florida's freshman combo rallied back and won in a tiebreak 7-6 (6-3) to provide UF with the early momentum. For Berlin and Zein, it was the duo's first victory of the season as well as its first over a ranked opponent.
Florida corralled the momentum gained in doubles and transferred it over to singles play where it claimed four of the first six sets.
No. 38
McCartney Kessler was forced to withdraw from her match at No. 2 due to injury. As a result, the Aggies tied the score at 1-1.
After entering the weekend without an SEC win, Berlin picked up her second of the weekend as she battled to a 6-4, 6-0 win over the Aggies' Dorthea Faa-Hviding, Berlin's victory from the No. 6 slot gave the Gators a 2-1 edge.
The Aggies then equalized when
Tsveta Dimitrova fell on court five, 3-6, 6-4, 1-6 to Riley McQuaid.
Zein, registering her third straight win, added a pivotal victory from court four as she pulled out a gritty 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2 verdict to put the Gators in the driver's seat at 3-2.
With two matches still in flight, the sophomore Emma earned the decisive victory as she recorded her first match clincher of the dual campaign. No. 16
Ida Jarlskog saw her match go unfinished at No. 1.
Taking on a formidable doubles side, the Gators won the doubles point for just the second time in their last six matches and got off to the strong start they would need in order to defeat a top 25 foe at its home court.
Berlin's match and Kessler's which was cut short due to withdrawal, were the only two contests to not reach three sets as the Gators and Aggies met for a competitive afternoon of tennis.
After four-straight matches on the road, Florida concludes its 2019 dual match season with four home matches in a row beginning this Friday, April 5 when the Gators host Alabama.
Up Next
Friday, April 5 | 5 p.m. ET
No. 31 Florida (9-8, 6-4) vs. No. 39 Alabama (14-8, 3-5)
Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex | Gainesville, Fla.
No. 31 Florida at No. 12 Texas A&M
Doubles Results
No. 63 Tatiana Makarova/Jayci Goldsmith def.
Victoria Emma/
McCartney Kessler (Florida), 6-3
Ida Jarlskog/
Tsveta Dimitrova (Florida) def. No. 55 Renee McBryde/Katya Townsend, 6-1
Marlee Zein/
Sydney Berlin (Florida) def. No. 67 Riley McQuaid/Lucia Quiterio, 7-6 (6-3)
Doubles order of finish: 2,1,3
Singles Results
No. 16
Ida Jarlskog (Florida) vs. No. 50 Katya Townsend, 7-5, 5-7. 1-4 (Unfinished)
No. 106 Jayci Goldsmith def.
No. 38 McCartney Kessler (Florida), 2-1 (Medical withdrawal)
No. 67 Victoria Emma (Florida) def. Tatiana Makarova, 6-1, 2-6, 7-5
Marlee Zein (Florida) def. Renee McBryde, 6-3, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2
Riley McQuaid def.
Tsveta Dimitrova (Florida), 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
Sydney Berlin (Florida) def. Dorthea Faa-Hviding, 6-4, 6-0
Singles order of finish: 2, 6, 5,4,3
Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
Overall thoughts on match…
"We've been saying it a lot lately, but it's really all about the squad. It's about a complete team performance and we've had different people stepping up and get crucial wins all season long. Tonight that player was Victoria (Emma). She was the tougher player for all three sets and showed such great grit and competitiveness out there. I'm really proud of her performance today. Overall we are learning how to be tough minded and make the right plays when things get difficult in these long matches. Our players made the right decisions to close out the matches and that was the key difference in the result."
On the team's performance in doubles…
"It was nice to see our No. 3 doubles team not only play incredibly well but play well under pressure. From No. 3, that's as good as we've played all year. I have to give a ton of credit to Marlee (Zein) and Sydney (Berlin) because they showed tremendous poise to be able to win a pressure-packed match like that. On Friday, we had a huge victory from No. 1, today it was our three's."
On Marlee Zein battling back after dropping close second set…
"Coming off the court after she won the match she was upset still about how she dropped the second set. I told her to be proud of the great mental toughness she showed to come back and win it. To me, the true sign of mental toughness in this game is how you respond when you get to a third set. She was able to turn the page and compartmentalize her previous mistakes. She showed what real mental toughness is today."
On the momentum gained from its road trip and what it can carry into the upcoming homestand…
"When we left the last road trip, we definitely felt like we left something on the table. Our team came back and put in a great week of practice. We talk about it all the time but the worker bee mentality is big for us. We got tougher and showed strong will all week long in practice. Our attitude, our work ethic and our effort was strong all week long and we reaped the benefits of that today. We have been playing physical and durable tennis and we were a good step or two better than the last time we played. That makes me proud as a coach."
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