GAINESVILLE, Fla.
– Primed to take the courts for its first competition since March 8, the University of Florida women's tennis team is set to kick off its fall season this weekend, Oct. 9-11, when it travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala. to take part in the SEC Challenge alongside student-athletes from the host Crimson Tide and fellow league foes Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi State.
Florida will send five competitors to its fall opener with veterans
McCartney Kessler,
Sydney Berlin, and
Marlee Zein all making the trip along with sophomore
Layne Sleeth and freshman
Sara Dahlstrom.
Dahlstrom, a native of Sweden, will make her debut with the Orange and Blue.
Back in August the SEC announced newly established start dates and formats for women's and men's tennis. As a reminder, teams are able to compete in up to three team events and teams are limited to events involving only SEC members or non-conference team from the institution's geographic region.
Live stats will be unavailable for the event but live streaming will be .Scores and general updates will be posted on the @GatorsWTN Twitter account when available along with daily recaps will be on FloridaGators.com.
Live Stream Information
The senior Kessler, who has posted 67 singles wins in her career and has garnered two All-SEC accolades, is UF's top returning player. A season ago, Kessler led the team with 21 victories.
The 2020-21 campaign marks head coach
Roland Thornqvist's 20
th season with the Gators. The four-time national championship head coach, produced his 20
th-straight .500 or better season. Spending time leading the North Carolina and Kansas programs before joining Florida, Thornqvist enters his 25
th season overall in college tennis.
Florida posted a 5-4 record during the shortened spring season while Alabama finished 12-6, Kentucky 9-6, Mississippi State 9-5 and Georgia 8-2.
The individual scoring format is as follows: doubles matches will consist of a six-game set with no-ad scoring and singles play will be best two out of three sets with no-ad scoring. The third set will be played to completion.
Schedule
Friday, Oct. 9
(all times listed in ET)
Florida/Miss State vs. Alabama at 3 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 10
(all times listed in ET)
Florida/Miss State vs. Georgia at 11 a.m.
Schedule
Sunday, Oct. 11
(all times listed in ET)
Florida/Miss State vs. Kentucky at 10 a.m.
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