Thursday, April 1
Gainesville, FL
5 PM
Florida Gators
vs
University of Kentucky
Gators Host Kentucky and Vanderbilt to Close Out Home Slate
Wednesday, March 31, 2021 | Women's Tennis
Women's tennis takes on No. 21 Wildcats Thursday and battles No. 19 Vanderbilt on Senior Day Saturday.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 15 University of Florida women's tennis team (9-6, 7-3) returns home to host its final two home matches this week as it welcomes No. 21 Kentucky Thursday, and No. 19 Vanderbilt Saturday for Senior Day at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
The Gators, winners of four-straight matches, will host Kentucky at 5 p.m. on Thursday before playing their home finale on Saturday at 11 a.m. versus the Commodores.
Seniors McCartney Kessler and Ida Jarlskog will be honored in a pre-match ceremony at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday.
Entering the weekend third in the SEC standings, Florida is playing some of its best tennis of the season and is fresh off a 2-0 road trip through nationally-ranked Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Following its impressive road swing, UF has vaulted itself to a season-best No. 15 national ranking.
With an adjusted doubles lineup, the Gators have recorded the doubles point in all of their last four matches and their top pairing, Kessler and Marlee Zein have risen to No.2 in the ITA national rankings. Florida is 7-1 when securing the opening tally.
No. 7 Kessler, No. 36 Zein and No. 111 Sara Dahlstrom all represent the Gators in the singles rankings. Overall, the Gators are 42-26 in dual match singles play with the senior Kessler leading the way with a 10-2 record. Zein and Sydney Berlin are both 8-4 while sophomore Layne Sleeth has posted an impressive 5-1 mark.
In its 15 matches played this season, the Gators have battled a nationally-ranked foe in 11 of them and in eight-straight contests.
A stalwart at the top of Florida's lineup, Kessler has over 80 career singles wins and 50 doubles victories. The Georgia native has twice earned All-SEC honors along with a slew of academic accolades. Jarlskog, after transferring in from Georgia Tech, has been a key contributor for the Gators with over 60 singles victories and 50 doubles wins. In 2019, Jarlskog was tabbed an All-American and finished ranked No. 17 in the nation.
No. 21 Kentucky enters the matchup sporting a 13-4 record which includes a 5-4 mark in SEC play. The Wildcats split a pair of home outings last week, falling to Georgia 4-0 before taking out Tennessee, 4-2 on their Senior Day. The Wildcats feature two ranked singles sides and a pair of ranked doubles pairings. No. 47 Akva Parazinskaite and No. 71 Lesedi Jacobs lead the way with six singles victories while Parazinkskaite and Fiona Arrese, 8-1, combine to form the nation's sixth-ranked tandem. A former standout player at UK, Carlos Drada leads the Wildcats and is in his 16th season in charge in Lexington.
No. 16 Vanderbilt has played to a 12-5 mark overall and is 4-5 in conference action. VU has dropped its last three contests and finishes out the 2021 dual match slate with three-consecutive road matches. The Commodores boast two ranked doubles pairings and one ranked singles player in No. 49 Christina Rosca, who paces the club with 12 wins. No. 54 Anna Ross and Holly Staff are VU's top doubles squad while No. 58 Emma Kurtz and Marcella Cruz combine to form the team's second unit. Aleke Tsoubanos, a three-time All-American as a player at VU, is in her first season as the head coach after spending 13 seasons as assistant and associate head coach.
The Gators hold a 42-3 edge over Kentucky in terms of the all-time series and at 49-10, lead the series over the Commodores.
Following the Gators' final two home matches, they will wrap up their 2021 season on the road at South Carolina on Sunday, April 11.
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The Gators, winners of four-straight matches, will host Kentucky at 5 p.m. on Thursday before playing their home finale on Saturday at 11 a.m. versus the Commodores.
Seniors McCartney Kessler and Ida Jarlskog will be honored in a pre-match ceremony at 10:45 a.m. on Saturday.
| KENTUCKY MATCH INFO |
|---|
| Date | Thursday, April 1 |
| Time | 5 p.m. ET |
| Matchup | No. 15 Florida (9-6, 7-3) vs. No. 21 Kentucky (13-4, 5-4) |
| Location | Linder Stadium at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex |
| Live Stats | Here |
| Live Video | Here |
| Match Notes | Florida |
| VANDERBILT MATCH INFO |
|---|
| SENIOR DAY | Make sure to arrive by 10:45 a.m. for the special pre-match ceremony |
| Date | Saturday, April 3 |
| Time | 11 a.m. ET |
| Matchup | No. 15 Florida (9-6, 7-3) vs. No. 19 Vanderbilt (12-5, 4-5) |
| Location | Linder Stadium at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex |
| Live Stats | Here |
| Live Video | Here |
| Match Notes | Florida |
Entering the weekend third in the SEC standings, Florida is playing some of its best tennis of the season and is fresh off a 2-0 road trip through nationally-ranked Ole Miss and Mississippi State. Following its impressive road swing, UF has vaulted itself to a season-best No. 15 national ranking.
With an adjusted doubles lineup, the Gators have recorded the doubles point in all of their last four matches and their top pairing, Kessler and Marlee Zein have risen to No.2 in the ITA national rankings. Florida is 7-1 when securing the opening tally.
No. 7 Kessler, No. 36 Zein and No. 111 Sara Dahlstrom all represent the Gators in the singles rankings. Overall, the Gators are 42-26 in dual match singles play with the senior Kessler leading the way with a 10-2 record. Zein and Sydney Berlin are both 8-4 while sophomore Layne Sleeth has posted an impressive 5-1 mark.
In its 15 matches played this season, the Gators have battled a nationally-ranked foe in 11 of them and in eight-straight contests.
A stalwart at the top of Florida's lineup, Kessler has over 80 career singles wins and 50 doubles victories. The Georgia native has twice earned All-SEC honors along with a slew of academic accolades. Jarlskog, after transferring in from Georgia Tech, has been a key contributor for the Gators with over 60 singles victories and 50 doubles wins. In 2019, Jarlskog was tabbed an All-American and finished ranked No. 17 in the nation.
No. 21 Kentucky enters the matchup sporting a 13-4 record which includes a 5-4 mark in SEC play. The Wildcats split a pair of home outings last week, falling to Georgia 4-0 before taking out Tennessee, 4-2 on their Senior Day. The Wildcats feature two ranked singles sides and a pair of ranked doubles pairings. No. 47 Akva Parazinskaite and No. 71 Lesedi Jacobs lead the way with six singles victories while Parazinkskaite and Fiona Arrese, 8-1, combine to form the nation's sixth-ranked tandem. A former standout player at UK, Carlos Drada leads the Wildcats and is in his 16th season in charge in Lexington.
No. 16 Vanderbilt has played to a 12-5 mark overall and is 4-5 in conference action. VU has dropped its last three contests and finishes out the 2021 dual match slate with three-consecutive road matches. The Commodores boast two ranked doubles pairings and one ranked singles player in No. 49 Christina Rosca, who paces the club with 12 wins. No. 54 Anna Ross and Holly Staff are VU's top doubles squad while No. 58 Emma Kurtz and Marcella Cruz combine to form the team's second unit. Aleke Tsoubanos, a three-time All-American as a player at VU, is in her first season as the head coach after spending 13 seasons as assistant and associate head coach.
The Gators hold a 42-3 edge over Kentucky in terms of the all-time series and at 49-10, lead the series over the Commodores.
Following the Gators' final two home matches, they will wrap up their 2021 season on the road at South Carolina on Sunday, April 11.
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
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