GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In the first-ever meeting on the tennis courts between Florida and Florida Gulf Coast, the Gators' women's tennis squad proved too much for the Eagles to handle, defeating FGCU 7-0 on a sunny Wednesday afternoon at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
 
Wednesday marked the second time in two seasons that the Gators (5-1, 0-0 SEC), when winning all seven points, didn't drop a set. Last season, UF took down No. 44 Ole Miss, 7-0, without dropping a single set in the process.
 
The Gators (5-1, 0-0 SEC) wasted no time grabbing the lead on Wednesday afternoon, racing out to 3-0 and 2-0 leads on courts one and two. The duo of Carly Briggs and Alicia Dudeney put the Orange & Blue in position to clinch the doubles point, defeating Florida Gulf Coast's (7-3, 0-0 ASUN) Emma Bardet and Ida Ferding, 6-2.
 
Newly paired Rachel Gailis and Emma Shelton put the Gators on top, 1-0, with a strong court two win against Alba Retortillo and Jordana Ossa, 6-2. With both teams agreeing to play out, Sara Dahlstrom and Bente Spee found themselves in a battle on court three. Facing a late 3-5 deficit to the Eagles' Isabella Colmenares and Fanny Norin, the duo fought off a double-match point to survive through a 6-6 stalemate late in the match. After taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the tiebreak, the Florida pair was able to hang-on for a 7-6(4) win.
 
In similar fashion to the doubles point, Florida started singles with dominant showings across the board, opening up quick 3-0 leads on four of the six courts. At the six singles position, Emily De Oliveira continued her impressive string of tennis, serving up a double-bagel against Gabriela Macis, 6-0, 6-0, to give UF a 2-0 advantage for the match.
 
Also dishing-out a bagel in the opening frame, Gailis was in control for her entire match before capturing a 6-0, 6-1 winner at four singles. The clincher on Wednesday came from court three where Dudeney took down Colmenares. The sophomore, just like De Oliveira and Gailis, blanked Colmenares in the first set before holding off a late second-set surge to take a 6-2 victory and secure the team win for the Gators.
 
Playing her first career-match at the two singles position, No. 83 Dahlstrom didn't disappoint for the Orange & Blue. After a back-and-forth first three games in the opening set, the junior put the pedal down and took the first set, 6-2, over Norin before an impressive 6-1 effort in the second set.
 
Freshman Anastasia Sysoeva, much like her teammates, breezed through her opening set on court five, 6-1, against Ferding. Sysoeva, the No. 106 player in the country, had to adjust in her second set, however, facing a 4-5 deficit late in the match. She managed to survive a double-match point from her opponent prior to taking over for a 7-5 winner.
 
The final match of the day focused all-eyes on the top court, where No. 63 Briggs had to fight-off the reigning Atlantic Sun Player of the Week, Emma Bardet. Briggs led the entire way, but it wasn't always easy as she held-on for a 6-4 first set edge, before creating some space for a 6-2 second set and match win.
 
Florida will remain at home on Friday, Feb. 24 for a top-25 battle with No. 25 Pepperdine at 5 p.m. ET at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
 
Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On Wednesday's match after a two-week break…
I thought we were clean, to be honest. We've been competing in practice, but it's not the same when you have the real deal out here. I thought we handled ourselves really well and we've improved in a lot of areas that we really focused on the last two weeks. I was happy to see that with some players moving forward more and using their weapons better. This was a great match for us after almost two weeks off, so I was very pleased."
 
On the play of courts five and six…
"Emily has been really sharp. She's such a great competitor and a great athlete, she just keeps mowing people down and that's been really impressive. Nas (Anastasia) played a clean first set, got in trouble a little bit, and then cleaned it up at the end. We talked about that at the end, that I'm happy to see when we have to make adjustments at the end of sets, we're starting to see what they are and better do them. Overall, in the few spots where we were pushed today, I thought we handled ourselves really well and some spots where we were supposed to run away with it, we did so."
 
On the takeaways for Friday's match against No. 25 Pepperdine…
"In particular, our doubles play. That's something we've been stressing in the last couple of weeks, where, regardless of who's on the other side, we have to implement certain things in our doubles game. We were able to do that today, now let's see if we can do that on Friday with a different team and different emblem on the front of their shirt. It shouldn't matter who's on the other side, we should be able to step-up and play. Today, obviously, was really good. Hopefully we can continue to build."
 
Singles Results
No. 61 Carly Briggs def. Emma Bardet (FGCU): 6-4, 6-2
No. 83 Sara Dahlstrom def. Fanny Norin (FGCU): 6-2, 6-1
Alicia Dudeney def. Isabella Colmenares (FGCU): 6-0, 6-2
Rachel Gailis def. Jordana Ossa (FGCU): 6-0, 6-1
No. 106 Anastasia Sysoeva def. Ida Ferding (FGCU): 6-1, 7-5
Emily De Oliveira def. Gabriela Macias (FGCU): 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish: 6,4,3,2,5,1
 
Doubles Results
Carly Briggs/Alicia Dudeney def. Emma Bardet/Ida Ferding (FGCU): 6-2
Rachel Gailis/Emma Shelton def. Alba Retortillo/Jordana Ossa (FGCU): 6-2
Sara Dahlstrom/Bente Spee def. Isabella Colmenares/Fanny Norin (FGCU): 7-6(4)
Order of Finish: 1,2,3
 
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