GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Earning their second ranked victory in a row, the No. 13 Florida Gators women’s tennis team won their match against the No. 17 Old Dominion Monarchs in a tough battle, 4-2, at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex on Thursday evening.
Taking on a red-hot ODU team who just defeated No. 12 Georgia Tech and SEC-foe Ole Miss to qualify for the ITA National Indoor Championships, the Gators would have to start off strong in doubles to keep the momentum in their favor.
And that’s exactly what they did as the team took two of three matches from the Monarchs to claim the doubles point.
At court one, the No. 34-ranked team of Carly Briggs and Marlee Zein put up a fight over the No. 3 duo of Yuliia Starodubtseva and Tatsiana Sasnouskaya. The Monarchs’ pair, who were the doubles runners-up at both the ITA All-American Championships and the ITA National Fall Championships, ended up winning the match by a score of 6-3.
The freshmen duo of Alicia Dudeney and Bente Spee, ranked No. 46 by the ITA, easily took their match on court two against ODU’s pairing of Shahar Biran and Marina Alcaide, 6-3, to split the doubles matches with the Monarchs.
It all came down to court three, as the duo of McCartney Kessler and Emma Shelton took on Alesya Yakubovich and Alexandra Viktorovich. The Gators got out to an early 3-1 lead, before the Monarchs closed the gap at 5-4. But, the Kessler/Shelton tandem came back to win the next game and the match, 6-4, to clinch the doubles point.
Heading into singles play, the Gators needed three more singles victories to win the match. The No. 17 team in the nation didn’t let up, even after the Monarchs tied the match at 1-1 when Yakubovich defeated Spee, 6-2, 6-2, at court six.
Florida would come back and increase its lead by two after both Dudeney and Briggs won their matches just seconds apart from one another.
The freshman from Hove, United Kingdom, posted her third ranked singles win this year after defeating No. 116 Sasnouskaya on court two in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3.
Briggs followed with a victory right after Dudeney as she overtook Sofia Johnson at court five, also in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4.
Three more matches were coming down to the wire as Florida led, 3-1.
At court three, No. 34 Zein put up a fight against No. 106 Viktorovich. Zein dropped the first set, 4-6, before taking the Monarch into a tiebreak. The Gator went back-and-forth with Viktorovich, before falling in the breaker, 10-8, and dropping her match.
In what would be the match clincher, Kessler competed hard at court one against No. 71 Starodubtseva to collect a comeback victory for the Gators. Kessler lost set one, 3-6, before putting on a clinic in the second set and winning, 6-1. The Gator was down 0-3 in the third, before winning the next three games to tie it, 3-3. Kessler then won three of the next four games to clinch the match and pick up her second ranked win of the season.
The Gators travel to Lake Nona, Fla., to participate in College MatchDay as they take on the Florida State Seminoles for the second time in a week on Saturday, Feb. 5 at 5 p.m.
SINGLES RESULTS
1. McCartney Kessler (UF) def. #71 Yuliia Starodubtseva (ODU), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
2. Alicia Dudeney (UF) def. #116 Tatsiana Sasnouskaya (ODU), 6-3, 6-3
3. #106 Alexandra Viktorovich (ODU) def. #34 Marlee Zein (UF), 6-4, 7-6 (10-8)
4. #87 Emma Shelton (UF) vs. Marina Alcaide (ODU), 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 0-1, unfinished
5. Carly Briggs (UF) def. Sofia Johnson (ODU), 6-1, 6-4
6. Alesya Yakubovich (ODU) def. Bente Spee (UF), 6-2, 6-3
Order of Finish: 6, 2, 5, 3, 1
DOUBLES RESULTS
1. #3 Tatsiana Sasnouskaya/Yuliia Starodubtseva (ODU) def. #34 Carly Briggs/Marlee Zein (UF), 6-3
2. #46 Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee (UF) def. Shahar Biran/Marina Alcaide (ODU), 6-3
3. McCartney Kessler/Emma Shelton (UF) def. Alesya Yakubovich/Alexandra Viktorovich (ODU), 6-4
Order of Finish: 1, 2, 3
QUOTABLES
Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On the team’s overall performance…
“This was a really high-level tennis match. Old Dominion has an incredible team. We knew they were good, but not only are they talented, they are really tough outs. Mentally, they are really tough. It took a lot of effort for us to get through the finish line. I just kept walking and saying, ‘Wow, this is really making both teams better.’ This early in the season, playing at that level, and having to dig deep in some spots, it was just really, really good for us. I was super pleased overall.”
On Alicia Dudeney…
“She’s 6-feet tall and moves like a cat. She has fantastic technique and is developing a really good offense as well. Great attitude, trains like a pro every day, and she is just beginning her development. Honestly, the sky is the limit. It’s nice also to have McCartney playing there to sort of push her along. They play in practice and it’s just very competitive, so it’s perfect for Alicia to have McCartney right there. She’s amazing. To play as a freshman at that level is something that helps the Gators.”
On McCartney Kessler’s mentality in her match…
“The tennis was really good, it was high-level. Both of them are ball strikers, the tempo was professional-level, and I just thought McCartney had a little bit more in the tank and was able to get a few more balls in the corner. I felt like the Old Dominion player ran a little more than we did, and I think perhaps it finally got to her a little bit at the end to where she made some unforced errors in the last 10 minutes. It took a monster effort. She started with new balls in the third and was whizzing balls by us… It could have been easy for McCartney to go away, get scared or panic. But, she stayed the course and was showing great leadership for everybody to see on how to manage oneself in that tight spot.”
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