Friday, March 25
Gainesville, Fla.
5 PM
Florida Gators
7
vs
0
Ole Miss
Dominant Performance Gives No. 16 Gators 7-0 Sweep Over No. 44 Ole Miss
Friday, March 25, 2022 | Women's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida women's tennis put together one of their most complete matches of the year on Friday, defeating No. 44 Ole Miss, 7-0, without dropping a single set at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
The doubles point was highly contested throughout the evening, with each match finding itself at 4-3 at one point during the competition. The veteran duo of McCartney Kessler and Marlee Zein were in a consistent back-and-forth match from the beginning, as both squads battled to a 2-2 tie early. Each teams would exchanging punches until late in the match, when the Gators (13-4, 5-2 SEC) pulled away for a 6-4 win.
On court three, Sara Dahlstrom and Emma Shelton raced out to a 3-0 lead, looking dominant in every facet of the game. The Ole Miss (8-7, 2-5 SEC) tandem of Ludmila Kareisova and Lillian Gabrielsen didn't go down without a fight, however, coming back to even the match at 3-3. Ole Miss managed to stay alive late in the match, holding off a Florida match point to make it 5-5, but the Gators rattled off back-to-back victories for a 7-5 win, securing the doubles point for UF.
Florida came out on fire to begin singles action, taking the first set on all six courts. Dahlstrom would be the first claim victory for the Orange & Blue, making quick work of Lillian Gabrielsen at the five singles position: 6-1, 6-2, to push the UF lead to 2-0.
It was a race to see who would play clincher for the Gators following Dahlstrom's victory. With No. 58 Zein and Alicia Dudeney both nearing the ends of their matches, it would be the freshman on court three taking down Rachel Krzyzak: 6-3, 6-3 to claim the next point before Zein clinched the match over Kareisova: 6-0, 6-4, in two singles.
Florida's dominance continued into the latter stages of the team match, as Carly Briggs earned a 2-0 sweep over her opponent at the four singles position: 6-0, 6-3. Almost immediately following, No. 22 Kessler earned another ranked-victory on the year, downing No. 69 Sabina Machalova: 6-3, 6-3, to push the score to 6-0.
To end the match and preserve the sweep, Sydney Berlin defeated Elysia Pool: 6-4, 6-3, to give the Gators just their second 7-0 sweep of the season. Berlin's two-set win also ensured that the Orange & Blue didn't drop a single set in their 7-0 sweep, marking the first time this season that's happened for Florida.
With the victory on Friday evening, Florida matched their win total from the previous two complete seasons, recording 13 wins so far this year and 13 in both 2018-19 and 2020-21.
The Gators will be back in action on Sunday, Mar. 27, when they welcome No. 54 Mississippi State to the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex for a 1 p.m. ET matchup.
SINGLES
No. 22 McCartney Kessler def. No. 69 Sabina Machalova (MISS): 6-3, 6-3
No. 58 Marlee Zein def. Ludmila Kareisova (MISS): 6-0, 6-4
Alicia Dudeney def. Rachel Krzyzak (MISS): 6-3, 6-3
Carly Briggs def. Reda Zadori (MISS): 6-1, 6-2
Sara Dahlstrom def. Lillian Gabrielsen (MISS): 6-1, 6-2
Sydney Berlin def. Elysia Pool (MISS): 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 2, 4, 1, 6
DOUBLES
McCartney Kessler/Marlee Zein def. Sabina Machalova/Rachel Krzyzak (MISS): 6-4
No. 34 Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee vs. Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher/Kesley Mize: 5-5, unf.
Sara Dahlstrom/Emma Shelton def. Ludmila Kareisova/Lillian Gabrielsen: 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 3
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On the doubles performance…
"I was very pleased, to be honest with you. We obviously played a really tightly contested doubles point, but I thought our players handled themselves well. I was really happy to see that our two doubles was able to come back from a slow start. They've shown over the course of the season that they're very good, except for the first 10 minutes, and then they get their stride going and figure out what to do. We have to fix the first 10 minutes of two doubles, but to their credit, they really helped everybody else that they got back into the match."
On singles play…
"In singles we played some excellent first sets. Now we're physical, we're holding onto the ball, using both corners and we're starting to look like we wanted to look at this time of year when, hopefully, in a few weeks it'll start getting more humid and warmer. We should be a tough site to play if we do it right."
On how practice is paying off…
"I thought that the little wakeup call we had after indoors led to much more intense practices. They payoff from those, you don't get immediately, there's a little delay there. Perhaps we're starting to see some of the benefits of our work that we did a month ago. I was very pleased and hopefully we can put together the same type of performance on Sunday."
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JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
The doubles point was highly contested throughout the evening, with each match finding itself at 4-3 at one point during the competition. The veteran duo of McCartney Kessler and Marlee Zein were in a consistent back-and-forth match from the beginning, as both squads battled to a 2-2 tie early. Each teams would exchanging punches until late in the match, when the Gators (13-4, 5-2 SEC) pulled away for a 6-4 win.
On court three, Sara Dahlstrom and Emma Shelton raced out to a 3-0 lead, looking dominant in every facet of the game. The Ole Miss (8-7, 2-5 SEC) tandem of Ludmila Kareisova and Lillian Gabrielsen didn't go down without a fight, however, coming back to even the match at 3-3. Ole Miss managed to stay alive late in the match, holding off a Florida match point to make it 5-5, but the Gators rattled off back-to-back victories for a 7-5 win, securing the doubles point for UF.
Florida came out on fire to begin singles action, taking the first set on all six courts. Dahlstrom would be the first claim victory for the Orange & Blue, making quick work of Lillian Gabrielsen at the five singles position: 6-1, 6-2, to push the UF lead to 2-0.
It was a race to see who would play clincher for the Gators following Dahlstrom's victory. With No. 58 Zein and Alicia Dudeney both nearing the ends of their matches, it would be the freshman on court three taking down Rachel Krzyzak: 6-3, 6-3 to claim the next point before Zein clinched the match over Kareisova: 6-0, 6-4, in two singles.
Florida's dominance continued into the latter stages of the team match, as Carly Briggs earned a 2-0 sweep over her opponent at the four singles position: 6-0, 6-3. Almost immediately following, No. 22 Kessler earned another ranked-victory on the year, downing No. 69 Sabina Machalova: 6-3, 6-3, to push the score to 6-0.
To end the match and preserve the sweep, Sydney Berlin defeated Elysia Pool: 6-4, 6-3, to give the Gators just their second 7-0 sweep of the season. Berlin's two-set win also ensured that the Orange & Blue didn't drop a single set in their 7-0 sweep, marking the first time this season that's happened for Florida.
With the victory on Friday evening, Florida matched their win total from the previous two complete seasons, recording 13 wins so far this year and 13 in both 2018-19 and 2020-21.
The Gators will be back in action on Sunday, Mar. 27, when they welcome No. 54 Mississippi State to the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex for a 1 p.m. ET matchup.
SINGLES
No. 22 McCartney Kessler def. No. 69 Sabina Machalova (MISS): 6-3, 6-3
No. 58 Marlee Zein def. Ludmila Kareisova (MISS): 6-0, 6-4
Alicia Dudeney def. Rachel Krzyzak (MISS): 6-3, 6-3
Carly Briggs def. Reda Zadori (MISS): 6-1, 6-2
Sara Dahlstrom def. Lillian Gabrielsen (MISS): 6-1, 6-2
Sydney Berlin def. Elysia Pool (MISS): 6-4, 6-3
Order of Finish: 5, 3, 2, 4, 1, 6
DOUBLES
McCartney Kessler/Marlee Zein def. Sabina Machalova/Rachel Krzyzak (MISS): 6-4
No. 34 Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee vs. Anaelle Leclercq-Ficher/Kesley Mize: 5-5, unf.
Sara Dahlstrom/Emma Shelton def. Ludmila Kareisova/Lillian Gabrielsen: 7-5
Order of Finish: 1, 3
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On the doubles performance…
"I was very pleased, to be honest with you. We obviously played a really tightly contested doubles point, but I thought our players handled themselves well. I was really happy to see that our two doubles was able to come back from a slow start. They've shown over the course of the season that they're very good, except for the first 10 minutes, and then they get their stride going and figure out what to do. We have to fix the first 10 minutes of two doubles, but to their credit, they really helped everybody else that they got back into the match."
On singles play…
"In singles we played some excellent first sets. Now we're physical, we're holding onto the ball, using both corners and we're starting to look like we wanted to look at this time of year when, hopefully, in a few weeks it'll start getting more humid and warmer. We should be a tough site to play if we do it right."
On how practice is paying off…
"I thought that the little wakeup call we had after indoors led to much more intense practices. They payoff from those, you don't get immediately, there's a little delay there. Perhaps we're starting to see some of the benefits of our work that we did a month ago. I was very pleased and hopefully we can put together the same type of performance on Sunday."
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
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Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
1,3
#1 Singles Match
12
Sabina Machalova / 0 (69/-) [OM]
33
66
#2 Singles Match
12
Ludmila Kareisova / 0 [OM]
04
66
#3 Singles Match
12
Rachel Krzyzak / 0 [OM]
33
66
#4 Singles Match
12
Reka Zadori / 0 [OM]
31
66
#5 Singles Match
12
Lillian Gabrielsen / 0 [OM]
12
66
#6 Singles Match
12
Elysia Pool / 0 [OM]
43
66
Order of Finish:
5,3,2,4,1,6
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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