UF Women’s Tennis Team dominates No.18 FSU to clinch bid to Indoor National Championships

The Florida Women’s Tennis Team swept No.18 FSU to qualify for the Indoor National Championships for the first time since 2018.

@GatorsWTN is headed to Wisconsin with a win over Florida State 🎟😎#WeAreCollegeTennis | #ITAIndoors https://t.co/v0c2n7KYLi pic.twitter.com/SJRghYYVoa

— ITA (@ITA_Tennis) January 30, 2022

Recap

The UF women’s tennis team will head to Madison, Wis. on Friday February 11 through Monday February 14th to compete in the Indoor National Championships. The Gators will face some of the most talented tennis teams in the country.

Florida’s freshman Alicia Dudeney and Bente Spee stepped up for Florida and delivered in a tight match with FSU’s Kianah Motosono and Vic Allen, 7-5; this gave Florida a 1-0 lead.

UF’s head coach Roland Thornqvist’s comments on the freshman performances:

“The freshman were put on center stage to secure our doubles points today, and their victory really helped set the tone for how the day went. They have been wonderful this season and have shown they belong.”

In singles play, the Gators jumped out to a 1-0 start due to FSU missing multiple athletes, and they were unable to fill the singles spot. Florida senior Marlee Zein, ranked #34 in the nation in singles, had a great match to defeat FSU’s Victoria Allen 6-3, 6-2 to increase the Gator’s lead to 3-0.

Gator Emma Shelton came in clutch for Florida as she put away Anna Arkadianou in straight sets; 6-3, 6-2 to clinch the regional championship.

UF’s head coach Thornqvist thoughts on the performance over the weekend:

“Overall I thought we learned a lot about the team. We knew we had great talent, but we found out how hard working and tough we are mentally, which helps make us great competitors.”

🎾 𝗦𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 🐊

⬇️ Kessler: 4-6
⬆️ Dudeney: 5-3
⬆️ Zein: 6-3
⬆️ Shelton: 6-3
⬇️ Spee: 4-5
✅ (Forfeit)

#19 UF 2, #18 FSU 0#GoGators pic.twitter.com/eHVFXVLxEA

— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) January 30, 2022

Results

Singles

Kessler vs. No.22 Hule: 4-6, 6-3

Dudeney vs. Jacobs: 6-3, 4-1

No.34 Zein def. Allen: 6-3, 6-3

No. 87 Shelton def. Arkadianou: 6-3, 6-2

Spee vs. Motosono/Allen: 5-7

Doubles

Hule/Jacobs def. No.24 Zein/Briggs: 6-3

No. 46 Dudeney/Spee deaf. Motosono/Allen: 7-5

Up Next

UF Women’s Tennis Team takes on a talented Old Dominion tennis team on Thursday February 3rd in Gainesville, Fla.