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The No. 19 Florida Gator women’s tennis team defeated FIU on Saturday, 4-2, as it hosts LSU, FIU and Miami at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex for the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
The Gators entered the weekend as the No.1 seed ahead of Miami, LSU and FIU and set the tone early with hopes of snagging a spot in Sunday’s championship.
Weekend W✅#GoGators pic.twitter.com/vfUmmBjz0K
— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) January 25, 2025
Beginning play on court one, the pair of seniors Alicia Dudeney-Bente Spee took on FIU’s junior Ekaterina Khairutdinova-sophomore Valery Gynina. The seniors’ experience proved to be too much for the FIU double as Dudeney-Spee regularly took the point on opposing serves and handily defeated the Russian pair, 6-3.
Meanwhile, the court three match consisted of senior Emily De Oliveira-freshman Nikola Daubnerova facing Panther sophomores Aleksandra Simeva-Petja Drame. Florida quickly screamed to a 3-0 start and didn’t look back, winning the match, 6-1.
On court two, Florida freshmen Talia Neilson-Gatenby-Noémie Oliveras battled with junior Oyinlomo Quadre-senior Anja Draskovic. The pairs seemed evenly matched as the match sat 4-4 after eight games.
However, the match remained unfinished after the other two Florida doubles won their matches, securing the Gators the doubles point.
Doubles point secured✅
Dudeney + Spee: 6⃣-3⃣
De Oliveira + Daubnerova: 6⃣-1⃣#GoGators pic.twitter.com/m6f7jwVD3e— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) January 25, 2025
Singles Play
On court one, Khairutdinova put on a show for the Panthers in singles, losing only two of 14 games to dominate Florida’s De Oliveira in straight sets (6-2, 6-0) and to give FIU its first point of the weekend.
Daubnerova did her part against FIU junior Katerina Mandelikova, when the Slovakia native cruised to a straight set victory (6-1, 6-2).
With the Gators leading 2-1, Neilson-Gatenby found herself in a war with Gynina.
After domiating the first set (6-1), the Florida freshman lost her momentum, falling in the second (2-6). In the third set, Neilson-Gatenby found herself in more trouble, down 5-2. The Gator attempted to climb back, pushing the match to 5-4, before losing the third set (6-4).
With the score tied (2-2), the stakes of final three singles matches were heightened in the best-of-seven match.
Oliveras gave the Gators some breathing room by winning their third point with her victory in straight sets against Drame. It was the freshman’s 7-2 tiebreaker win that decided the second set to win her first match of the spring season (6-2, 7-6 (2)).
Finishing Job
On court two, Dudeney found herself in a hole early against Quadre. However, after dropping set one (6-2), the Florida senior stepped up to send set two to a tiebreaker. The tiebreaker went back-and-forth until Dudeney finally broke Quadre and won the tiebreaker 10-8 to steal the second set (7-6 (8)).
This was just what Dudeney needed. The senior got into a rythm in the third set, sweeping her opponent (6-0) to give the Gators their fourth point and a spot in Sunday’s championship.
Spee took on Draskovic in a three-set battle on court five. Spee won the first set (6-4), but dropped the second to the senior from Montenegro (6-4). The all-deciding third set was led by Spee 4-3, but was left unfinished after Dudeney’s win put the Gators across the finish line, 4-2.
Dudeney secures the Gator’s 4-2 victory over FIU with her win in three sets (2-6, 7-6, 6-0).
Florida will face the winner of LSU/Miami in the championship tomorrow at 2 p.m.
FIU will face the loser of LSU/Miami in the consolation match tomorrow at 11 a.m.
— Curan Ahern (@CuranAhern) January 25, 2025
Sunday’s Championship
The Gators will continue play at 2 p.m. Sunday for the tournament’s championship when they’ll face the winner of Saturday afternoon’s LSU-Miami match.
The winner of the championship match will earn a spot at the ITA Indoor National Championships on Feb. 7-10 at the University of Illinois.
FIU will play the loser of LSU/Miami in Sunday’s consolation match at 11 a.m.
