COLUMBIA, S.C. – Florida women's tennis earned their first Southeastern Conference road win of the 2023 season on Saturday, defeating No. 32 South Carolina, 4-1, at the Carolina Tennis Center.
 
The No. 21 Gators (7-3, 2-1 SEC) have now won three-straight over the Gamecocks (6-6, 1-2 SEC) and earned their second-consecutive ranked-win of the season after the 4-1 decision.
 
Hitting the road for the first time this conference season, the Gators opened with a strong showing in doubles competition. The newly-ranked No. 60 duo of Carly Briggs and Rachel Gailis found themselves in a battle early, going back-and-forth to a 3-3 stalemate with Gracie Mulville and Alice Otis. After holding serve to take a 4-3 advantage, the Florida squad broke the Gamecocks to gain a 5-3 edge before taking the 6-3 victory.
 
Needing one more win to secure the doubles point, Emily De Oliveira and Sophie Williams would deliver for the Orange & Blue. Matched-up against South Carolina's Ana Cruz and McKenna Schaefbauer, the Gators earned an early break point to claim a 2-1 lead and would never relinquish the advantage, pulling away for the 6-2 win and giving UF a 1-0 match lead.
 
South Carolina didn't waste any time in evening the match, however, as No. 7 Ayana Akli was able to take down No. 47 Briggs in straight sets, 6-2, 6-1, to tie the match at one. The lead didn't last long with De Oliveira taking care of business on court six against Cruz. The sophomore found herself in a 3-0 hole in the opening set, but adjusted to win the next six for a 6-3 opening frame win. She continued to hold momentum for a dominant 6-1 second set and match victory.
 
Ranked No. 119 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Assocation poll, Sara Dahlstrom picked-up the biggest win in her career on Saturday over No. 14 Sarah Hamner. The junior opened with a strong 3-1 edge and didn't look back, claiming the first set, 6-2. Hamner wouldn't disappear for the Gamecocks, pulling in front for a 4-2 edge midway through the second set, but Dahlstrom responded by reeling-off four-consecutive games to claim the match and push Florida's lead to 3-1.
 
Seconds after Dahlstrom's triumph, Alicia Dudeney put an end to the match by clinching on court three. Dudeney, in similar fashion to Dahlstrom, was strong in the first frame over Mulville, taking a 6-2 lead after one. The Hove, United Kingdom, native gained a late lead in the second set, 5-4, and had double match point, but Mulville was able to survive and extend the match. One game later, Dudeney broke the Gamecock's serve before holding her own serve for the 7-5 win, sealing Florida's first SEC road win of the season.  
 
The Gators will return home next weekend for a pair of matches at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex against Vanderbilt and Kentucky. Vanderbilt will visit Gainesville for a 5 p.m. ET matchup on Friday, March 17, while Kentucky will make the journey south on Sunday, March 19 for a noon ET match.
 
Quotes from the Court
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On Saturday's doubles action…
"We knew coming here that South Carolina is a super gritty team. They fight, they run, they're willing to extend rallies and never go away, so I knew we had to finish them to win. I thought we played really well and disciplined in doubles. We were outplayed at one doubles for the first 75% of it, and then found a way to extend the match which really helped our three team feel less pressure, and thus clinch the point."  
 
On the execution in singles play against South Carolina…
"In singles we won four first sets that were real battles, and I was super pleased with our effort on two. Sara beat a really good player on her home court and that's, by far, Sara's biggest win of her career as a Gator and it came at a good time. Everybody fought tooth-and-nail, for every point, and everyone was lucid. We had to change up tactics on a couple courts right in the middle of it and I'm just really pleased because today was a high level. When we beat LSU it was kind of ugly tennis at times, that was not the case today. We were sharp, we fought hard and we were really into it. I'm pleased with the win over a really good South Carolina team."
 
On the adjustments Sara Dahlstrom made over the past week…
"She played a player for LSU who hit the ball so hard. I know that she had trouble, when she got pushed out to the corner, on the timing, so we worked with her a little bit this week and it was clearly better today. Hamner hits the ball almost as big at times and Sara had much better control when she was running in the corners. She was able to answer those big balls with really good, and not so defensive, balls herself. Over time, Sara is just so strong that you could just tell that it took a toll on Hamner and then Sara's confidence grew with every game and every challenge met. She's worked hard, she's spent a lot of time on the tennis court and you can tell it's starting to pay-off for her."
 
On Emily's rebound from LSU and the beginning of today's match…
"We were down 3-0 and Emily, pretty much, played the wrong corner, so we talked for a few minutes at the changeover, made a couple of adjustments to try and pin the player at another spot on the court. To Emily's credit, she was really good at executing the game plan. You could tell the confidence of the other kid sort started waning when Emily was able to, over and over, execute our game plan. I was really happy to see that she was able to take those instructions and execute them. For a young player, she's come a long way. After a freshman year where she was battling injury, it's been a super strong spring for her to begin like this."
 
Singles
No. 7 Ayana Akli (South Carolina) def. No. 47 Carly Briggs: 6-2, 6-1
No. 119 Sara Dahlstrom def. No. 14 Sarah Hamner (South Carolina): 6-2, 6-4
Alicia Dudeney def. Gracie Mulville (South Carolina): 6-2, 7-5
Rachel Gailis vs. Elise Mills (South Carolina): 6-2, 2-6, 2-0, unf.
Bente Spee vs. Misa Malkin (South Carolina): 1-6, 4-5, unf.
Emily De Oliveira def. Ana Cruz (South Carolina): 6-3, 6-1
Order of Finish: 1,6,2,3
 
Doubles
Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee vs. No. 56 Ayana Akli/Sarah Hamner (South Carolina): 3-5, unf.
No. 60 Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis def. Gracie Mulville/Alice Otis (South Carolina): 6-3
Emily De Oliveira/Sophie Williams def. Ana Cruz/McKenna Schaefbauer (South Carolina): 6-2
Order of Finish: 2,3
 
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