Saturday, April 13
Gainesville, FL
10 AM
Florida Gators
2
vs
4
South Carolina
Marlee Zein recorded her 10th singles win of the season in UF's hard-fought loss to the Gamecocks.
No. 26 Florida Falls Short Against No. 5 South Carolina
Saturday, April 13, 2019 | Women's Tennis
Women’s tennis drops 4-2 decision to Gamecocks in regular season finale Saturday afternoon.
Results
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 26 University of Florida women's tennis team (11-10, 7-6) fell 4-2 Saturday afternoon to No. 5 South Carolina (17-3, 12-1) at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex in its final test before the upcoming SEC Tournament.
Trailing 3-1, the Gators were in contention on the remaining three courts and pushed all three matches to third sets, but couldn't quite complete the comeback. Taking on a top 15 opponent for the second time in as many matches, Florida saw two freshman pick up impressive victories.
Competing at No. 4, freshman Marlee Zein added her 10th victory of season becoming just the second Gator to reach the double-digit win plateau. Classmate Sydney Berlin, winning for the third time in her last four matches, cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 over Kennedy Wicker on court six to register UF's opening tally.
After Zein recorded a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Megan Davies to cut the deficit to 3-2, No. 10 Ida Jarlskog and No. 37 McCartney Kessler had matches in flight playing on courts one and two, respectively. After a dramatic come-back win on Thursday, Kessler battled to the end again on Saturday but fell in a tight one to No. 28 Paige Cline. Kessler turned in a gritty three-set performance, but dropped a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 decision in the day's final match.
Jarlskog, searching for her third top 10 victory on the year, saw her match go unfinished with her in the lead 6-4, 6-7 (7-4), 3-0. Jarlskog trailed 5-2 in the second set and mounted a spirited come back to knot the score at 5-5, but couldn't quite hold on as she fell in a tie break to No. 4 Ingrid Martins.
The Gators got behind early as the Gamecocks claimed the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. Jarlskog and Tsveta Dimitrova dropped a 6-2 match to Rachel Rohrabacher and Cline while No. 51 Kessler and Victoria Emma fell 6-2 to No. 2 Mia Horvit/Ingrid Martins. Zein and Berlin saw their match go unfinished at 5-5.
Florida reset and came out strong in singles, winning the opening set on four courts.
Despite the strong overall start, the Gamecocks struck first in singles as Silvia Chinellato recorded a 6-1, 6-2 win over Dimitrova on court five. With Florida now facing a 2-0 deficit, Berlin opened the scoring for the Gators with a dominant win on court six.
South Carolina struck again with a victory on court three as No. 102 Mia Horvit def. No. 94 Victoria Emma. After dropping the first set, Emma got out to a 4-2 lead in set two, but couldn't maintain the edge as she fell in her second-straight match.
Improving to 8-4 at the No. 4 slot, Zein helped swing the momentum back in the Gators' favor with a three-set winner.
Kessler finished the regular season with a 5-5 mark vs. ranked opponents.
The No. 26 Gators and No. 5 Gamecocks played a competitive contest as four singles matches went to three sets.
With the defeat, Florida falls to 7-6 in league action and sits in seventh place in the league standings. The Gators and Gamecocks were the only conference teams to compete on Saturday as the remainder of the SEC will wrap regular season play on Sunday. Florida returns to action Thursday, April 18 when it competes in the second round of the SEC Tournament in College Station, Texas. The Gators' opponent will be announced tomorrow following the conclusion of the SEC regular season.
Up Next
Thursday, April 18
No. 26 Florida (11-10, 7-6) vs. TBA
TBA
SEC Tournament
College Station, Texas
No. 26 Florida vs. No. 5 South Carolina
Doubles Results
No. 2 Mia Horvit/Ingrid Martins def. No. 51 McCartney Kessler/Victoria Emma, 6-3
Rachel Rohrabacher/Paige Cline def. Ida Jarlskog/Tsveta Dimitrova (Florida), 6-2
Marlee Zein/Sydney Berlin (Florida) vs. Kennedy Wicker/Megan Davies, 5-5 (Unfinished)
Doubles order of finish: 2, 1
Singles Results
No. 10 Ida Jarlskog (Florida) vs. No. 4 Ingrid Martins, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 3-0 (Unfinished)
No. 28 Paige Cline def. No. 37 McCartney Kessler (Florida), 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
No. 102 Mia Horvit def. No. 94 Victoria Emma (Florida), 6-4, 7-5
Marlee Zein (Florida) def. Megan Davies, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
Silvia Chinellato def. Tsveta Dimitrova (Florida), 6-1, 6-2
Sydney Berlin (Florida) vs. Kennedy Wicker, 6-2, 6-0
Singles order of finish: 5, 6, 3, 4, 2
Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
Overall thoughts on match…
"We knew they (South Carolina) had a certain style of playing and I think emotionally we were ready for it. If we dissect the details or the specifics of the match, we probably can play better in doubles frankly. I thought we played better on Thursday than we did today. If we get a chance to play them again, that's certainly going to be something we talk about. I don't think we were aggressive enough. They took away the net much more than we did and that's something we have to change.
In singles, I think our freshmen were amazing. We just look like a completely different team than we did a few months ago. We look like a prototypical Florida team now where we compete and are emotionally engaged. We are willing to go long in the count within the games and not afraid of the four all and five all matches. I think we had some growing pains early in the year because we were playing a man down for the stretches. When somebody goes down, that gives someone else an opportunity to step up. Sydney (Berlin) is certainly an example of that. She got here in January and her head was spinning, but you can tell now that things are starting to settle down. I thought she was spectacular. Marlee (Zein) was the same way. Our freshman were remarkable today. I think the fact that we did play a man down early has benefitted us. We are terribly disappointed in the result today, but this the bar. A team that is ranked No. 5, that's who we try to beat and we were a point here or a point there from making that happen."
On the growth of the team and its mindset going into the SEC Tournament
"If you look at our last three weeks, we had a heck of a run on the road at LSU and at Texas A&M. Then we played a poor match when we came home against Alabama, with a man down, but played well against Auburn. This week has been good again. I think the trend is our friend. I think we are getting better and getting tougher. Our doubles play is improving too. The SEC Tournament is housed money, really. We are going to compete our butts off and we are going to do some things with doubles and focus on that more than anything. After the tournament, we will have three weeks that we can heal up and get physically ready for the postseason. I don't know if we are going to play here or get shipped out somewhere. By then though we will be ready. Our freshmen aren't freshmen anymore, we are going to be ready for whatever comes our way."
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JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 26 University of Florida women's tennis team (11-10, 7-6) fell 4-2 Saturday afternoon to No. 5 South Carolina (17-3, 12-1) at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex in its final test before the upcoming SEC Tournament.
Trailing 3-1, the Gators were in contention on the remaining three courts and pushed all three matches to third sets, but couldn't quite complete the comeback. Taking on a top 15 opponent for the second time in as many matches, Florida saw two freshman pick up impressive victories.
Competing at No. 4, freshman Marlee Zein added her 10th victory of season becoming just the second Gator to reach the double-digit win plateau. Classmate Sydney Berlin, winning for the third time in her last four matches, cruised to a 6-1, 6-0 over Kennedy Wicker on court six to register UF's opening tally.
After Zein recorded a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Megan Davies to cut the deficit to 3-2, No. 10 Ida Jarlskog and No. 37 McCartney Kessler had matches in flight playing on courts one and two, respectively. After a dramatic come-back win on Thursday, Kessler battled to the end again on Saturday but fell in a tight one to No. 28 Paige Cline. Kessler turned in a gritty three-set performance, but dropped a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 decision in the day's final match.
Jarlskog, searching for her third top 10 victory on the year, saw her match go unfinished with her in the lead 6-4, 6-7 (7-4), 3-0. Jarlskog trailed 5-2 in the second set and mounted a spirited come back to knot the score at 5-5, but couldn't quite hold on as she fell in a tie break to No. 4 Ingrid Martins.
The Gators got behind early as the Gamecocks claimed the doubles point with wins on courts one and two. Jarlskog and Tsveta Dimitrova dropped a 6-2 match to Rachel Rohrabacher and Cline while No. 51 Kessler and Victoria Emma fell 6-2 to No. 2 Mia Horvit/Ingrid Martins. Zein and Berlin saw their match go unfinished at 5-5.
Florida reset and came out strong in singles, winning the opening set on four courts.
Despite the strong overall start, the Gamecocks struck first in singles as Silvia Chinellato recorded a 6-1, 6-2 win over Dimitrova on court five. With Florida now facing a 2-0 deficit, Berlin opened the scoring for the Gators with a dominant win on court six.
South Carolina struck again with a victory on court three as No. 102 Mia Horvit def. No. 94 Victoria Emma. After dropping the first set, Emma got out to a 4-2 lead in set two, but couldn't maintain the edge as she fell in her second-straight match.
Improving to 8-4 at the No. 4 slot, Zein helped swing the momentum back in the Gators' favor with a three-set winner.
Kessler finished the regular season with a 5-5 mark vs. ranked opponents.
The No. 26 Gators and No. 5 Gamecocks played a competitive contest as four singles matches went to three sets.
With the defeat, Florida falls to 7-6 in league action and sits in seventh place in the league standings. The Gators and Gamecocks were the only conference teams to compete on Saturday as the remainder of the SEC will wrap regular season play on Sunday. Florida returns to action Thursday, April 18 when it competes in the second round of the SEC Tournament in College Station, Texas. The Gators' opponent will be announced tomorrow following the conclusion of the SEC regular season.
Up Next
Thursday, April 18
No. 26 Florida (11-10, 7-6) vs. TBA
TBA
SEC Tournament
College Station, Texas
No. 26 Florida vs. No. 5 South Carolina
Doubles Results
No. 2 Mia Horvit/Ingrid Martins def. No. 51 McCartney Kessler/Victoria Emma, 6-3
Rachel Rohrabacher/Paige Cline def. Ida Jarlskog/Tsveta Dimitrova (Florida), 6-2
Marlee Zein/Sydney Berlin (Florida) vs. Kennedy Wicker/Megan Davies, 5-5 (Unfinished)
Doubles order of finish: 2, 1
Singles Results
No. 10 Ida Jarlskog (Florida) vs. No. 4 Ingrid Martins, 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 3-0 (Unfinished)
No. 28 Paige Cline def. No. 37 McCartney Kessler (Florida), 6-4, 2-6, 7-5
No. 102 Mia Horvit def. No. 94 Victoria Emma (Florida), 6-4, 7-5
Marlee Zein (Florida) def. Megan Davies, 6-1, 4-6, 6-2
Silvia Chinellato def. Tsveta Dimitrova (Florida), 6-1, 6-2
Sydney Berlin (Florida) vs. Kennedy Wicker, 6-2, 6-0
Singles order of finish: 5, 6, 3, 4, 2
Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
Overall thoughts on match…
"We knew they (South Carolina) had a certain style of playing and I think emotionally we were ready for it. If we dissect the details or the specifics of the match, we probably can play better in doubles frankly. I thought we played better on Thursday than we did today. If we get a chance to play them again, that's certainly going to be something we talk about. I don't think we were aggressive enough. They took away the net much more than we did and that's something we have to change.
In singles, I think our freshmen were amazing. We just look like a completely different team than we did a few months ago. We look like a prototypical Florida team now where we compete and are emotionally engaged. We are willing to go long in the count within the games and not afraid of the four all and five all matches. I think we had some growing pains early in the year because we were playing a man down for the stretches. When somebody goes down, that gives someone else an opportunity to step up. Sydney (Berlin) is certainly an example of that. She got here in January and her head was spinning, but you can tell now that things are starting to settle down. I thought she was spectacular. Marlee (Zein) was the same way. Our freshman were remarkable today. I think the fact that we did play a man down early has benefitted us. We are terribly disappointed in the result today, but this the bar. A team that is ranked No. 5, that's who we try to beat and we were a point here or a point there from making that happen."
On the growth of the team and its mindset going into the SEC Tournament
"If you look at our last three weeks, we had a heck of a run on the road at LSU and at Texas A&M. Then we played a poor match when we came home against Alabama, with a man down, but played well against Auburn. This week has been good again. I think the trend is our friend. I think we are getting better and getting tougher. Our doubles play is improving too. The SEC Tournament is housed money, really. We are going to compete our butts off and we are going to do some things with doubles and focus on that more than anything. After the tournament, we will have three weeks that we can heal up and get physically ready for the postseason. I don't know if we are going to play here or get shipped out somewhere. By then though we will be ready. Our freshmen aren't freshmen anymore, we are going to be ready for whatever comes our way."
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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