Gators Ready for USTA Fall Ranked Spotlight

Friday, September 27

Orlando, FL

All Day

Florida Gators

USTA Fall Ranked Spotlight

Junior Victoria Emma was one of three Gators to earn in the ITA's preseason rankings

Gators Ready for USTA Fall Ranked Spotlight

Thursday, September 26, 2019 | Women's Tennis

Women's tennis sends four players to compete at elite showcase this weekend in Orlando

By: Sam Stolte

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The University of Florida women's tennis team continues its 2019 fall slate this weekend, Sept. 27 – 29, when it travels to Lake Nona to compete against some of the nation's top talent at the USTA Fall Ranked Spotlight at the organization's national campus.

The tournament field features four singles players and two doubles teams from nine programs that finished in the top 25 of the final 2019 USTA/Tennis Channel poll. No. 5 South Carolina, No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 13 UCF, No. 15 N.C. State, No. 18 Miami, No. 20 Tennessee, No. 23 Virginia, No. 24 Ohio State will join the No. 21 Gators at the national showcase. (Rankings based on the final 2019 USTA/Tennis Channel Top 25)

McCartney Kessler, Victoria Emma, Marlee Zein and Layne Sleeth will represent the Gators in both the 32-player singles draw and the 16-team doubles competition. The veteran tandem of Kessler and Emma will team up and the sophomore Zein and the freshman Sleeth will pair up for the first time.

There will be 20 ranked singles players and seven ranked doubles teams active in the event. No. 23 Kessler, No. 85 Zein and No. 91 Emma all appeared in the recently issued ITA preseason rankings and the Kessler and Emma tandem came in as the nation's No. 6 ranked doubles squad.

A season ago UF battled UCF, N.C. State, South Carolina and Tennessee during the dual match campaign.

This weekend marks Florida's second tournament of the fall campaign as Kessler and Emma kicked off the season last week at the W15 Lubbock. Posting a 5-1 record and top eight finish, Kessler impressed in her 2019 debut. Zein and Sleeth are both set to make their first appearance of the season.

Action begins Friday with the opening rounds of both singles and doubles and concludes Sunday with the final rounds.

Admission and parking are free for fans who wish to attend.

For more information the event, click here.

USTA Fall Ranked Spotlight
Friday, Sept. 27 - Sunday Sept. 29
USTA National Campus
Lake Nona, Fla.
Live Stream Link
Live stats will not be available but make sure to follow @GatorsWTN on Twitter for score updates
Singles Draw
Doubles Draw
Singles Scoring - Standard Best-of-3 Sets, No-AD
Doubles Scoring - One Standard Set, No-AD

Schedule
Friday, Sept. 27
(all times listed in ET)
Doubles Main Draw Round 1
9 a.m. - No. 6 McCartney Kessler and Victoria Emma vs. No. 27 Catherine Gulhur and Alana Wolfberg (Oklahoma St.)
9 a.m. - Layne Sleeth and Marlee Zein vs. Jaeda Daniel and Adriana Reami (N.C. State)

Singles Main Draw Round 1
Not before 10 a.m. - No. 91 Victoria Emma vs. Nandini Sharma (UCF)
Not before 10 a.m. - No. 85 Marlee Zein vs. Sofia Munera (UVA)
Not before 10 a.m. - No. 23 McCartney Kessler vs. Selma Cadar (Miami)
Not before 10 a.m. - Layne Sleeth vs. No. 77 Amber O'Dell (UVA)

Singles Main Draw Round 2
Not before 2 p.m. - TBD

Saturday, Sept. 28
(all times listed in ET)
9 a.m. – Singles – Round 3
Not Before 10 a.m. – Singles – Round 3
Not Before 1:30 p.m. – Singles – Round 4
Not Before 2:30 p.m. – Singles – Round 4

Sunday, Sept. 29
(all times listed in ET)
9 a.m. – Doubles – Second Match
Not Before 10 a.m. – Singles – Round 5
Not Before 11 a.m. – Singles – Round 5 (Additional Backdraw Matches if Necessary)

Gators Competing
Junior Victoria Emma
Junior McCartney Kessler
Freshman Layne Sleeth
Sophomore Marlee Zein

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