Women’s Tennis Drops SEC Contest at No. 8 Texas A&M

Sunday, March 6

College Station, TX

1 PM

Florida Gators

Texas A&M

Women’s Tennis Drops SEC Contest at No. 8 Texas A&M

Sunday, March 6, 2022 | Women's Tennis

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Andrew Hile

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – In a battle of two top-15 foes, No. 13 Florida women's tennis gave No. 8 Texas A&M all they could handle in College Station, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Aggies, falling in a close battle, 4-3.

Doubles competition was highly contested on Sunday afternoon with both squads finding themselves in a 1-1 draw with the doubles point on the line following a victory from McCartney Kessler and Emma Shelton, 6-4, over Jeanette Mireles and Gianna Pielet at three doubles. The Gators (8-3, 1-1 SEC) would fall just short, however, with the Aggies (16-1, 2-0 SEC) giving Florida their first doubles-point defeat of the season.

With the Aggies holding a 1-0 match advantage, the Gators would need four victories in singles competition to claim victory. Texas A&M would quickly extend their lead to 2-0, but No. 49 Kessler would takedown No. 27 Carson Branstine at the top singles position in straight sets: 6-2, 7-5, to pull the Gators back within 2-1.

Sophomore Sara Dahlstrom would keep the Orange & Blue within one of the overall match score, winning on court six over Mireles: 6-3, 6-4, making it 3-2 overall in favor of the Aggies. The Gators wouldn't be able to overcome the deficit, however, with the home squad taking the final two matches, holding off UF for a 5-2 victory.

For the weekend, Florida earned a split, opening 1-1 after defeating LSU in their SEC-opener on Friday evening. The Gators will be back in action on Friday, March 11 when they welcome No. 36 Georgia to the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex for a 5 p.m. ET matchup.

SINGLES
No. 49 McCartney Kessler def. No. 27 Carson Branstine (TAMU): 6-2, 7-5
No. 41 Tatiana Makarova (TAMU) def. No. 47 Marlee Zein: 6-3, 6-0
No. 91 Mary Stoiana (TAMU) def. No. 119 Alicia Dudeney: 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(3)
Jayci Goldsmith (TAMU) def. Carly Briggs: 7-5, 5-7, 6-2
Gianna Pielet (TAMU) def. No. 106 Emma Shelton: 6-4, 6-2
Sara Dahlstrom def. Jeanette Mireles (TAMU): 6-3, 6-4

DOUBLES
No. 3 Jayci Goldsmith/Tatiana Makarova (TAMU) def. No. 10 Carly Briggs/Marlee Zein: 6-2
Carson Branstine/Mary Stoiana (TAMU) def. No. 12 Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee: 6-4
McCartney Kessler/Emma Shelton def. Jeanette Mireles/Gianna Pielet (TAMU): 6-4

QUOTABLES
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On the overall thoughts about Sunday's match…
"Texas A&M did a great job today defending their homecourt. I thought they have the best team we've played so far this year and playing them at their place makes that challenge even greater. With that being said, I felt like we certainly had some real chances in doubles to get the point. We played very good tennis at three doubles and at two doubles we were up a break, but couldn't close the door and the not closing the door was a theme throughout the day. Texas A&M got out of jams when we had them on the ropes and when you play in the SEC on the road, you only get so many chances against the best teams, and when you do, you have to be ruthless in taking them."

On how the Gators will move forward…
"To Texas A&M's credit, they withstood what we threw at them and we certainly need to re-evaluate or get better, I should say, at taking opportunities. Be a little bit more ruthless, perhaps, in our decision-making when there's pressure-filled moments."

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