LAKE NONA, Fla. — The Gators traveled to Lake Nona on Sunday afternoon to face No.13 Pepperdine at the USTA National Campus. Florida fell 5-2 in its final match before SEC action starts next week. Florida moves to a 4-5 record ahead of conference play.
 
The Gators saw a tough opponent in the Waves during doubles action. Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee dropped the first match against Savannah Broadus/Janice Tjen 6-2. Pepperdine then clinched the doubles point after duo, Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis fell 6-0 to the Waves' Lisa Zaar/Jasmine Conway. Malwina Rowinska and Qavia Lopez were behind 5-3 in their set before the Waves clinched the doubles point.
 
Florida did not see too much of a momentum change in singles action except for freshman, Malwina Rowinska snagging a Florida win. Rowinska defeated Jasmine Conway 6-4, 6-2 securing her first singles victory of the spring season.
 
Qavia Lopez managed to grab another point in the score column for the Gators. Lopez defeated Pepperdine senior, Nikki Redelijk in the first set 6-2, before Redelijk came back to take the second 7-5 and force a third. Lopez won the tiebreaker 1-0 and picked up her fourth singles win of the season.
 
Carly Briggs faced off against No.13 Lisa Zaar in singles action, falling 6-1 in both sets. Rachel Gailis also dropped her singles match with a final score of 6-2, 6-2 against No.8 Savannah Broadus.
 
Sara Dahlstrom fought hard against Pepperdine's Janice Tjen but was unable to get it done. After two sets, Dahlstrom was defeated 6-3,6-2.
 
Lastly, Alicia Dudeney found herself in a battle against Anna Campana on court four. Dudeney took the first set 6-2 before Campana came back to win the second 6-1. Alicia dropped the tie breaker 1-0 and the Waves secured their 5-2 win.
 
HEAD COACH ROLAND THORNQVIST SAID:
"The freshman were the highlight of today. They have been getting a lot better and showed up for us today. Today was tough and we've come up short against some highly ranked teams but we have a monster practice week ahead. Going to LSU can set a massive spring board and will give us a brand-new start."


Singles:
1.Lisa Zaar (PEPP) def. Carly Briggs (UF) 6-1, 6-1
2. Savannah Broadus (PEPP) def. Rachel Gailis (UF) 6-2, 6-2
3. Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. Sara Dahlstrom (UF) 6-3, 6-2
4. Anna Campana (PEPP) def. Alicia Dudeney (UF) 2-6, 6-1, 1-0
5. Qavia Lopez (UF) def. Nikki Redelijk (PEPP) 6-2, 5-7, 1-0
6. Malwina Rowinska (UF) def. Jasmine Conway (PEPP) 6-4, 6-3

Doubles:
1. Savannah Broadus/ Janice Tjen (PEPP) def. Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee (UF) 6-2
2. Nikki Redelijk/Vivian Yang (PEPP) def. Malwina Rowinska/Qavia Lopez  (UF) 6-1
3. Lisa Zaar/ Jasmine Conway (PEPP) def. Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis (UF) 6-0
 
NEXT UP:
Florida will now shift their attention towards SEC play as they open up conference play on Friday. The Gators will travel to Baton Rouge later this week and take on LSU at the LSU Tennis Complex. LSU moved to a 7-2 record after defeating TCU 4-2 on Sunday afternoon.
 
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