Senior McCartney Kessler defeated Georgia's Katrina Jokic who was tabbed the ITA NCAA Division I National Player of the Year in 2018-19.
Kessler Comes Through With Big Win at Second Day of Bulldog Invitational
Saturday, October 24, 2020 | Women's Tennis
Women's tennis adds two impressive singles wins and posts two doubles wins at fall tourney.
ATHENS, Ga. - Competing at the second day of the Bulldog Invitational hosted by Georgia, the University of Florida women's tennis team registered two impressive singles wins and a pair of doubles victories as it battled student-athletes from both Georgia and Kentucky on Saturday.
The Gators began the day in the win column as McCartney Kessler and Marlee Zein posted a 6-2 victory over UGA's Jokic and Hertel. After a narrow loss yesterday, the veteran Gator duet rebounded by cruising to a win on Saturday. On UF's other court, Berlin and Dahlstrom battled the Bulldog duo of Christofi and Coppoc in a highly contested match. Despite getting out to an early edge, Berlin and Dahlstrom fell 7-5.
With inclement weather expected, Florida's doubles matchups with Kentucky, originally slated for Sunday, were moved to Saturday morning. After the Gators squared off with Georgia in doubles, they then took on Kentucky.
Florida tinkered with its lineup, shuffling its pairings. Zein teamed up with Berlin and Kessler took the court with Dahlstrom in the second round of doubles competition.
Playing together for the first time, Dahlstrom and Kessler erased an early deficit and fought back to earn a 6-4 win.
Berlin and Zein, who have compiled seven wins when playing together over the years, came up short at 7-5 against UK's Parazinskaite and Arrese.
All four singles matches went a full three sets. Florida won two opening stanzas and dropped the other two across its four courts.
Kessler got off to a strong start against the former ITA National Player of the Year, Katrina Jokic. Kessler, the Georgia native, raced out to a 5-1 lead in the opening stanza but was met with some resistance in the second set as accomplished Jokic evened the score at one set apiece. Kessler held on to win in the winner-take-all third set against Jokic on her home court, 6-4.
Dahlstrom also got off to a promising start, claiming her opening set against Marta Gonzalez 7-5, but couldn't hold on in the later stages as she dropped a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 decision to the UGA senior.
Berlin and Zein stormed back to force third sets after conceding their respective opening frames. Berlin came all the way back to dispatch senior Elena Christofi 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to run her record to 4-1 on the season. Zein turned in a gritty effort for three sets against her opponent Morgan Coppoc, who was once a top 10 ITA-ranked player, but came up just short 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Florida concludes the Bulldog Invitational Sunday morning when it squares off with Kentucky in singles only beginning at 9 a.m. ET.
Results
Saturday, Oct. 24
(all times listed in ET)
Doubles
Zein/Kessler (UF) def. Jokic/Hertel (UGA), 6-2
Christofi/Coppoc (UGA) def. Dahlstrom/Berlin (UF), 7-5
Doubles
Kessler/Dahlstrom (UF) def. Jacobs/Stevens (UK), 6-4
Parazinskaite/Arrese (UK) def. Zein/Berlin (UF), 7-5
Singles
Morgan Coppoc (UGA) def. Marlee Zein (UF) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
Sydney Berlin def. Elena Christofi (UGA) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Marta Gonzalez (UGA) def. Sara Dahlstrom (UF) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
McCartney Kessler (UF) def. Katarina Jokic (UGA) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
Schedule
Sunday, Oct. 25
(all times listed in ET)
Singles
Florida vs. Kentucky – 9 a.m. ET
Quotes from the Court
Overall thoughts on the match…
"I thought we played well in doubles. Particularly in the morning when we had our teams that have been practicing together, we played really well. We played a little more spotty kind of tennis with the new pairings so I don't think we can read too much into that. But I was pleased with the way we competed against Georgia in singles, and obviously McCartney (Kessler) is proving right now that's she one of the nation's best players. That's really good, that's and she deserves it because she has that ability. It's really good for us as well to have a player step up like that at a level where we know where no matter what team we face, we are going to have someone at the top able to beat the best players in the country. So today, was really good in that regard. Sydney (Berlin) had a slow start again today in singles, but once again proved that she's becoming much more durable and a heady competitor. And I thought Sara (Dahlstrom) played at times really really well and we just need to continue to work on her finishing moving forward. Frankly we haven't had a chance to do that, we have been doing a lot of movement laterally and hitting big balls laterally from behind the baseline with her. So clearly today it just exposed that she just need to get a little bit better at moving forward to finish points. That's why we are playing in the fall, to find out stuff like that. Overall I'm pleased, I think we competed hard even though we fell short on a couple of courts. Georgia is a good team, I feel like we have gotten a lot better in the two weeks since we played them last."
On Kessler's big-time win against Jokic…
"She's been playing at such a high level at practice. I think frankly Sara (Dahlstrom) has only been with us a few weeks but her and McCartney have had good sets in practices that have helped both of them this week clearly. It was really nice to see that she was able to have the win and get some confirmation that she is one of the better players in the country. It helps not only her but also us as a team, knowing that we have somebody who can sort of carry the flag at top."
On the team's competitive edge…
"I think we have had a good team spirit and very positive tone to all practices and competitions so far in the fall. I think they are all pulling their weight and in the same direction, it's just easier to be a mentally tough team and a mentally tough individual when you feel like the team is together and pulling positive and doing all it can together all the time. I think our level of play is going to continue to improve, as long as we have that mentality I think this team and can be really really good."
On what he hopes to see in tomorrow's fall finale…
"Two weeks ago when we played, I thought we got better each day we competed, and I'm hoping we follow that pattern this weekend too, to play our best tennis tomorrow. I want to see us compete just as hard as we did the first two days, I'm going to take that for granted honestly and hope that our level of play is just as good tomorrow. It's great because we find out little things about our players that we need to hit on in practice. Someone like Sara (Dahlstrom) who hasn't been with us that long, today was an excellent match for us to point out somethings we need to do in practice. Same thing for McCartney (Kessler), there's always something we need to add to our training, there's something for all of them. So we are going to analyze tomorrow the same way but I'm just going to assume that they are going to bring the same mentality and toughness to the way we compete tomorrow."
Results
Friday, Oct. 23
(all times listed in ET)
Doubles
Berlin/Dahlstrom (UF) def. Mills/Spasojevic (USC) 6-2
Davies/Horvit (USC) def. Kessler/Zein (UF) 7-6(7)
Singles
Kessler (UF) def. Davies (USC), 6-2, 6-2
Zein (UF) def. Spasojevic (USC), 6-2, 6-1
Dahlstrom (UF) def. Martinez (USC), 6-0, 6-0
Berlin (UF) vs. Tulenko (USC) 6-0, 4-6, 6-0
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The Gators began the day in the win column as McCartney Kessler and Marlee Zein posted a 6-2 victory over UGA's Jokic and Hertel. After a narrow loss yesterday, the veteran Gator duet rebounded by cruising to a win on Saturday. On UF's other court, Berlin and Dahlstrom battled the Bulldog duo of Christofi and Coppoc in a highly contested match. Despite getting out to an early edge, Berlin and Dahlstrom fell 7-5.
With inclement weather expected, Florida's doubles matchups with Kentucky, originally slated for Sunday, were moved to Saturday morning. After the Gators squared off with Georgia in doubles, they then took on Kentucky.
Florida tinkered with its lineup, shuffling its pairings. Zein teamed up with Berlin and Kessler took the court with Dahlstrom in the second round of doubles competition.
Playing together for the first time, Dahlstrom and Kessler erased an early deficit and fought back to earn a 6-4 win.
Berlin and Zein, who have compiled seven wins when playing together over the years, came up short at 7-5 against UK's Parazinskaite and Arrese.
All four singles matches went a full three sets. Florida won two opening stanzas and dropped the other two across its four courts.
Kessler got off to a strong start against the former ITA National Player of the Year, Katrina Jokic. Kessler, the Georgia native, raced out to a 5-1 lead in the opening stanza but was met with some resistance in the second set as accomplished Jokic evened the score at one set apiece. Kessler held on to win in the winner-take-all third set against Jokic on her home court, 6-4.
Dahlstrom also got off to a promising start, claiming her opening set against Marta Gonzalez 7-5, but couldn't hold on in the later stages as she dropped a 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 decision to the UGA senior.
Berlin and Zein stormed back to force third sets after conceding their respective opening frames. Berlin came all the way back to dispatch senior Elena Christofi 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 to run her record to 4-1 on the season. Zein turned in a gritty effort for three sets against her opponent Morgan Coppoc, who was once a top 10 ITA-ranked player, but came up just short 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Florida concludes the Bulldog Invitational Sunday morning when it squares off with Kentucky in singles only beginning at 9 a.m. ET.
Results
Saturday, Oct. 24
(all times listed in ET)
Doubles
Zein/Kessler (UF) def. Jokic/Hertel (UGA), 6-2
Christofi/Coppoc (UGA) def. Dahlstrom/Berlin (UF), 7-5
Doubles
Kessler/Dahlstrom (UF) def. Jacobs/Stevens (UK), 6-4
Parazinskaite/Arrese (UK) def. Zein/Berlin (UF), 7-5
Singles
Morgan Coppoc (UGA) def. Marlee Zein (UF) 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
Sydney Berlin def. Elena Christofi (UGA) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Marta Gonzalez (UGA) def. Sara Dahlstrom (UF) 5-7, 6-3, 6-3
McCartney Kessler (UF) def. Katarina Jokic (UGA) 6-4, 4-6, 7-5
Schedule
Sunday, Oct. 25
(all times listed in ET)
Singles
Florida vs. Kentucky – 9 a.m. ET
Quotes from the Court
Overall thoughts on the match…
"I thought we played well in doubles. Particularly in the morning when we had our teams that have been practicing together, we played really well. We played a little more spotty kind of tennis with the new pairings so I don't think we can read too much into that. But I was pleased with the way we competed against Georgia in singles, and obviously McCartney (Kessler) is proving right now that's she one of the nation's best players. That's really good, that's and she deserves it because she has that ability. It's really good for us as well to have a player step up like that at a level where we know where no matter what team we face, we are going to have someone at the top able to beat the best players in the country. So today, was really good in that regard. Sydney (Berlin) had a slow start again today in singles, but once again proved that she's becoming much more durable and a heady competitor. And I thought Sara (Dahlstrom) played at times really really well and we just need to continue to work on her finishing moving forward. Frankly we haven't had a chance to do that, we have been doing a lot of movement laterally and hitting big balls laterally from behind the baseline with her. So clearly today it just exposed that she just need to get a little bit better at moving forward to finish points. That's why we are playing in the fall, to find out stuff like that. Overall I'm pleased, I think we competed hard even though we fell short on a couple of courts. Georgia is a good team, I feel like we have gotten a lot better in the two weeks since we played them last."
On Kessler's big-time win against Jokic…
"She's been playing at such a high level at practice. I think frankly Sara (Dahlstrom) has only been with us a few weeks but her and McCartney have had good sets in practices that have helped both of them this week clearly. It was really nice to see that she was able to have the win and get some confirmation that she is one of the better players in the country. It helps not only her but also us as a team, knowing that we have somebody who can sort of carry the flag at top."
On the team's competitive edge…
"I think we have had a good team spirit and very positive tone to all practices and competitions so far in the fall. I think they are all pulling their weight and in the same direction, it's just easier to be a mentally tough team and a mentally tough individual when you feel like the team is together and pulling positive and doing all it can together all the time. I think our level of play is going to continue to improve, as long as we have that mentality I think this team and can be really really good."
On what he hopes to see in tomorrow's fall finale…
"Two weeks ago when we played, I thought we got better each day we competed, and I'm hoping we follow that pattern this weekend too, to play our best tennis tomorrow. I want to see us compete just as hard as we did the first two days, I'm going to take that for granted honestly and hope that our level of play is just as good tomorrow. It's great because we find out little things about our players that we need to hit on in practice. Someone like Sara (Dahlstrom) who hasn't been with us that long, today was an excellent match for us to point out somethings we need to do in practice. Same thing for McCartney (Kessler), there's always something we need to add to our training, there's something for all of them. So we are going to analyze tomorrow the same way but I'm just going to assume that they are going to bring the same mentality and toughness to the way we compete tomorrow."
Results
Friday, Oct. 23
(all times listed in ET)
Doubles
Berlin/Dahlstrom (UF) def. Mills/Spasojevic (USC) 6-2
Davies/Horvit (USC) def. Kessler/Zein (UF) 7-6(7)
Singles
Kessler (UF) def. Davies (USC), 6-2, 6-2
Zein (UF) def. Spasojevic (USC), 6-2, 6-1
Dahlstrom (UF) def. Martinez (USC), 6-0, 6-0
Berlin (UF) vs. Tulenko (USC) 6-0, 4-6, 6-0
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JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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