Florida Duo Fights but Drops Decision in NCAA Doubles First Round

Tuesday, May 21

Orlando, FL

Florida Gators

NCAA Individual Championships

Sophomores Victoria Emma and McCartney Kessler finished the dual match season with a team-best 14 doubles wins.

Florida Duo Fights but Drops Decision in NCAA Doubles First Round

Tuesday, May 21, 2019 | Women's Tennis

Women’s tennis doubles tandem, McCartney Kessler and Victoria Emma, mounts a comeback but falls to veteran UCLA duo Tuesday in NCAA action.

By: Sam Stolte

LAKE NONA, Fla. – University of Florida women's tennis sophomores McCartney Kessler and Victoria Emma fought back to force a third set tiebreak, but fell to 6-3, 2-6 (10-7) to the Tournament's No. 3 overall seed in Ayan Broomfield and Gabby Andrews of UCLA Tuesday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Doubles Championship held at the USTA National Campus in Lake Nona, Fla.

Florida's young No. 1 doubles unit put forth a great effort against the Bruins' senior combo, but couldn't break through against the veteran pairing that entered the match ranked No. 4 in the ITA rankings.

Kessler/Emma won six-straight games in the second set to force a winner-take-all third set, but couldn't hold on as Broomfield/Andrews advanced to the round of 16 with a 10-7 win in the tiebreak.

After falling behind early in the first stanza 3-0, Kessler/Emma closed the gap to 3-2, but saw the Bruin pairing pull away late and notch a 6-3 win. UCLA looked to have carried its momentum into the second set and built an early 2-0 lead, but UF quickly flipped the script. With their backs against the wall, the Gators rallied back to win six straight games and claim an impressive 6-2 win. The come-from-behind victory in set two set up a decisive third set. The third set, featuring a 10-point match tiebreaker in lieu of a traditional set, was a tight one. After falling behind in the tiebreak 5-2, the Gators surged back to cut the lead to 8-7, but the Bruins tallied the final two scores.

With both battling injuries throughout the year, Kessler/Emma held a top 100 ITA ranking for the final five weeks of the season and registered four top 100 wins, including two victories against top 10 foes.

The pair finishes the season 14-12 and last month took down the nation's No. 1 doubles team in Mia Horvit and Ingrid Gamarra Martins of South Carolina at the SEC Tournament.

Florida falls to 33-14 all time in the NCAA Doubles Championship first round action.

With the defeat, the Gators' 2018-19 campaign comes to a close as the duo was Florida's final entry remaining in the NCAA Individual Championships. Kessler, UF's lone singles participant, saw her season end yesterday in the round of 64. The Gators finished the team portion of the dual match season with a 13-12 record after exiting in the NCAA Tournament's second round in early May.

Results NCAA Individual Championship | Doubles | Tuesday, May 21
No. 4 Broomfield/Andrews (UCLA) def. No. 25 Kessler/Emma (Florida), 6-3, 2-6,(10-7) ** 10-point match tiebreaker was played in lieu of a full third set.)

Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
"This was a tale of two sets. We had below par play in the first but we played fantastic tennis in the second. The tiebreak is always a crapshoot and UCLA stormed out to a lead, and although we had chances to catch up, we were unable to do so. This year overall was exactly like that. We got close a lot but couldn't go all the way. I think we will get better from our experiences and become a fearless and competitive team next year."

FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators