Gators Women’s Tennis Swept By No. 3 Aggies

The Florida Gators women’s tennis team was looking to upset the No. 3 team in the nation, but fell short 4-0 Sunday when the Texas A&M Aggies  showcased their power to remain undefeated in conference play.

Play moved indoors due to poor weather with action starting a bit earlier than scheduled because only three courts were available.

The match began with singles instead of the usual doubles, because of the limited space inside the Perry Indoor Facility. With only three matches able to play at a time, a clinch in singles meant the doubles portion didn’t need to be played, saving time in what was an hours-long battle.

Aggressive Aggies

Junior Rachel Gailis took the first loss for UF (4-6, 1-4 SEC) in her match against TAMU senior No. 3 Mary Stoiana on court one. Gailis pushed herself, but nothing seemed to work, as Stoiana took a 6-3, 6-1 victory. Stoiana’s win moved her singles record to 16-3 and put the Aggies (14-1, 5-0) ahead 1-0.

UF 0️⃣, TAMU 1️⃣

Stoiana def. Gailis 6-3, 6-1 #GoGators

— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) March 9, 2025

Florida freshman Talia Neilson-Gatenby put up a fight against junior Mia Kupres, but fell short in three sets. After losing set one 6-1, Neilson-Gatenby came surging back to win the second set 6-3. However, Kupres was determined to finish with a win and did just that, besting the Neilson-Gatenby 6-1 in the third set to supply A&M with a 2-0 lead.

Senior Alicia Dudeney played two long sets with TAMU junior Nicole Khirin on court two that included a tough 7-6(2) tiebreak loss and resilient 7-5 win. However, the Gator was out of gas after battling for hours and Khirin won the third set 6-0 to give A&M its third unanswered point.

UF 0️⃣, TAMU 3️⃣

Khirin def. Dudeney 7-6, 5-7, 6-0#GoGators

— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) March 9, 2025

UF freshman Nikola Daubnerova quickly fell in set one to sophomore Lucciana Perez 6-1 before battling back to take a 3-1 lead in the second set on court four. Despite her early lead in set two, Daubnerova fell 6-4 when Perez came surging back to clinch the match for Texas A&M and complete a 4-0 sweep.

Senior Bente Spee went unfinished with TAMU junior Daria Smetannikov on court five and freshmen Noémie Oliveras (UF) and Lexington Reed (A&M) went unfinished in their match on court six.

Final vs. No. 3 Texas A&M #GoGators pic.twitter.com/EzdHd6SDne

— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) March 9, 2025

Up Next

Florida will look to bounce back Friday when it heads to Starkville to face the Mississippi State Bulldogs.

TAMU will look to jump to 6-0 in SEC play when it visits Missouri on Friday at 2:30 p.m. CT.