No. 22 Florida Women’s Tennis Falls Short Against Missouri

The Florida women’s tennis team stayed in Gainesville following its 5-2 victory over Morgan State to face the University of Missouri. Despite a strong start to the season, Missouri (11-7, 2-6 SEC) struggled in conference play and entered Gainesville on a skid of four straight losses.

However, the Gators (7-7, 3-5 SEC) weren’t prepared for a hungry Missouri squad looking to avoid its fifth straight defeat. The Tigers entered the match with a fire and grabbed a much-needed conference win on the road against a top-25 powerhouse.

Doubles

UF seniors Alicia Dudeney–Bente Spee, the No. 60 doubles pair in the nation, jumped to a 3-0 lead against freshman Korina Roso-senior Mary Brumfield and carried their momentum to a 6-1 victory on court one. However, this was the only doubles court Florida took as Missouri came surging back to win the point.

Junior Rachel Gailis-freshman Reagan Parker couldn’t find a groove against junior Andrea Artimedi-senior Inah Canete, falling 3-0 early. The Missouri pair took control of the match from there and swept the Florida pair 6-0 to leave the doubles point to be decided by the Gator freshmen.

Freshmen Talia Neilson-Gatenby–Noémie Oliveras couldn’t overcome graduate student Lailaa Bashir-freshman Zoe Lazar as the Tigers’ late burst of points earned them a 6-3 win and secured the doubles point.

Singles

Parker was no match for Artimedi as the latter swept her 6-0 in two straight sets. Artmedi’s straight set victory put Missouri ahead 2-0 as the Tigers looked to rally and upset the Gators.

Oliveras dropped set one 6-2 to Roso as Missouri continued to impress. Roso then fought her way to a 6-3 victory over the freshman to give Missouri a surprising 3-0 lead.

Florida battled back with a point of its own as Spee showcased her strong serve and return game against Lazar on court four. After an impressive 6-0 victory in set one, Spee bested Lazar 6-3 in the second set to cut Missouri’s lead to 3-1.

Closely following Spee, No. 91 Dudeney dominated in her straight-set court-two win against Canete. The seniors’ 6-3, 6-1 win brought the Gators even closer to a comeback, with two matches left in play and the match’s score 3-2.

https://twitter.com/GatorsWTN/status/1903227710458991049

No. 39 Gailis found herself in an hours-long bout with Brumfield on court one and eventually emerged victorious. Gailis tied the match 3-3 with her 7-5, 6-4 win, leaving the final match in play on court three.

Gailis claims court 1‼️

Rach wins 7-5, 6-4 over M. Brumfield

We are tied up 3️⃣-3️⃣#GoGators pic.twitter.com/1yBdbzn9el

— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) March 21, 2025

Despite a valiant effort from the freshman, Neilson-Gatenby fell to Bashir 6-3 in set one. From there, Neilson-Gatenby forced a tiebreaker in the second set before the grad student bested her 7-6(5) to secure Missouri a 4-3 win and end Florida’s three-match win streak.

Up Next

No. 22 Florida will stay at home for a third straight match when it hosts No. 15 Vanderbilt. The Gators will look to bounce back at noon on Sunday in a top-25 conference matchup.