GAINESVILLE, Fla. – No. 18 Florida faced a tough loss in their home opener against No.10 Georgia on Friday evening at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. The Gators dropped the match, 4-3, despite a rallying effort by the top three courts.
 
The Gators dropped the doubles point against the Bulldogs in straight sets. On court 1, Qavia Lopez/Malwina Rowinska saw the nationally ranked No. 8 doubles pair Ayesgul Mert/Dasha Vidmanova. The freshmen fell 6-2, moving to 5-5 overall and 1-2 in conference action.
 
Georgia was able to secure the doubles point after duo Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis fell 6-3 to Alexandra Vecic/Mell Reasco. This match marks the pair's first SEC loss of the season moving to a 2-1 record and 4-3 overall.
 
The match on court 2 between Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee and No. 34 Guillermina Grant/ Mai Nirundorn went unfinished with the Gators leading 5-3.
 
Singles action started off slow for the Gators, but a late rally closed the gap to just one. Georgia opened their score column first, with No. 98 Anastasiia Lopata defeating Alicia Dudeney in straight sets 6-1,6-1.
 
Over on court 5, freshman Qavia Lopez dropped 6-4, 6-4 in her match against Aysegul Mert. Mert ended the freshman's win streak, moving Lopez to 2-1 in conference and 6-2 overall.
 
The final point for Georgia came after a hard-fought battle between Malwina Rowinska and Guillermina Grant. Rowinska took the first set 6-3, but Grant found victory in the second 7-6, forcing a third. Grant secured the win for Georgia recording a 6-1 victory against the freshman.
 
With three remaining matches and a zero in the scoring column, Florida turned to their top 3 singles players to revive the Gators team. No. 79 Carly Briggs snagged the first points for the Gators. Briggs defeated No.68 Mell Reasco 6-7,6-4,6-3. Carly recorded her first win of the regular season, now posting a 3-8 overall, 1-1 conference record.
 
No. 45 Rachel Gailis found herself in a battle with No. 29 Dasha Vidmanova. Gailis secured a 7-6 victory in the first set but Vidmanova returned a win of her own in the second defeating Gailis 6-4. Rachel snagged the match point in the forced third, blanking Dasha 6-0. Gailis moved to 7-3 overall and 2-1 in conference action.
 
The final point for Florida came from newly ranked No.80 Sara Dahlstrom. Dahlstrom faced off against No. 25 Alexandra Vecic and put up a hard fight. Vecic took the first set 6-4, but Sara kept the momentum from the Gators previous two wins and defeated Alexandra 6-4 forcing a third set. Dahlstrom had no intention of letting this set slip away, as she went on to notch a 6-3 win against Vidmanova. Sara is now 7-3 overall and 2-1 in the regular season.
 
Despite the late rally, Florida fell 4-3 against Georgia moving to a 5-7 overall record and 1-2 in conference action.
 
HEAD COACH ROLAND THORNQVIST SAID:
" Incredible battle from start to finish. Probably the best tennis I've seen on the top 3 courts in many years here. Malwina is hurting right now after having those 4 match points but the team will rally around our freshman who were our MVP's last week. There's no doubt we've improved tremendously in the last few weeks and the sky is the limit if we keep that up."
 
Singles: (order of finish 4,5,6,3,1,2)
1. Rachel Gailis (UF) def. Dasha Vidmanova (UGA) 7-6 (7-2), 4-6, 6-0
2. Sara Dahlstrom (UF) def. Alexandra Vecic (UGA) 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
3. Carly Briggs (UF) def. Mell Reasco (UGA) 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2
4. Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) def. Alicia Dudeney (UF) 6-1, 6-1
5. Aysegul Mert (UGA) def. Qavia Lopez (UF) 6-4, 6-4
6. Guillermina Grant (UGA) def. Malwina Rowinska (UF) 3-6, 7-6, 6-1

Doubles: (order of finish 1,3)
1. #8 Aysegul Mert/Dasha Vidmanova (UGA) def. Qavia Lopez/Malwina Rowinska (UF) 6-2
2. Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee (UF) vs. Guillermina Grant/Mai Nirundorn (UGA) 5-3 unfinished
3. Alexandra Vecic/Mell Reasco (UGA) def. Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis (UF) 6-3
 
NEXT UP:
The Gators will host No.16 Tennessee on Sunday at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. The Vols moved to a 10-3 (2-1) record after falling to No.22 South Carolina 4-3 on Friday evening.
 
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