Florida Women’s Tennis Defeats Alabama To Advance At SEC Tournament

Coming off of a 4-2 loss to No. 4 Oklahoma, the Alabama Crimson Tide entered the SEC tournament hungry for a win after the Sooners spoiled their four-match win streak last Sunday.

Entering the SEC tournament on a five-game losing streak, Florida (9-13, 4-11 SEC) started Wednesday’s match in Auburn, Ala., looking to turn its luck around and grab its second win against Alabama (13-14, 4-10) on the road this season.

After Florida bested Alabama 4-3 during an intense mid-March matchup in Tuscaloosa, the SEC Tournament’s first-round competition promised to not disappoint, and did just that, as each team refused to see its season end. However, it was the Gators who bested Alabama 4-3 for the second time this season.

Doubles

UF seniors Alicia Dudeney–Bente Spee, the No. 22 doubles pair in the nation, met senior Petra Sedlackova-graduate Margaux Maquet on court one and displayed a valient effort. However, the Gators lost 6-4 to give Alabama an early advantage in doubles.

Florida freshmen Noémie Oliveras– Talia Neilson-Gatenby trailed junior Klara Milicevic-graduate Sara Nayar throughout their court three doubles match, but forced a tiebreaker to keep the Gators alive in doubles. The Florida pair trailed 5-2 in the tiebreaker, but came surging back, winning five straight games to take a 7-5 win.  The freshmen’s 7-6(5) victory left the doubles point to be decided on court two.

Junior Rachel Gailis-freshman Nikola Daubnerova traded blows with the No. 81 pair of Alabama junior Maria Andrienko-graduate Maria Martinez Vaquero on court two, as the match sat 5-5 after 10 games. With their backs against the wall one game later, Gailis-Daubnerova dug deep to force an all-deciding tiebreaker. From there, the Florida pair rushed to a 7-2 tiebreaker win to secure the match 7-6(2) and give the Gators a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.

Doubles Point to Florida!

R. Gailis / N. Daubnerova win 7️⃣-6️⃣ on Court 2️⃣!

Gators 1 | Crimson Tide 0 pic.twitter.com/gtHaf8mCul

— Gators Women’s Tennis (@GatorsWTN) April 16, 2025

Close Race in Singles

Oliveras fought hard against Nayar in set one, but fell 6-4. From there, Nayar dominated to take the second set 6-1 and avenged the Crimson Tide’s doubles-point loss. The graduate’s 6-4, 6-1 win against Oliveras on court five brought the score to 1-1, as Alabama began to build momentum in singles.

UF freshman Reagan Parker saw her bad luck in singles continue, as Maquet bested her in straight sets on court six to take the lead. Parker’s 6-2, 6-1 loss was her ninth straight singles loss in straight sets and put Florida behind 2-1.

However, Neilson-Gatenby answered against Milicevic on court three. The freshman dug deep to best Milicevic in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 and tie the overall match 2-2.

No. 30 Gailis kept the Gators going with a three-set win against No. 38 Sedlackova on court one, as the junior showcased why she is one of the best in the nation in singles. After winning the first set 6-3, Gailis lost set two 6-3, as Sedlackova refused to go down in straight sets. However, the Gator powered through in set three to win 6-2 and pull Florida ahead 3-2.

Court 1 is Gator territory

R. Gailis grinds it out: 6️⃣-3️⃣, 3️⃣-6️⃣, 6️⃣-2️⃣

Florida 3 | Alabama 2#GoGators pic.twitter.com/q770Bk6OMJ

— Gators Women’s Tennis (@GatorsWTN) April 17, 2025

Spee found herself in a long bout with Martinez Vaquero on court four with the graduate pulling out a match-tying win in three sets. Although Spee won set one 6-4, she had no answer for Martinez Vaquero in the second set and quickly lost 6-0. In set three, Spee trailed early and and couldn’t claw back as she fell 6-4 and the match was left to be decided on court two.

Dudeney Comes Through

If there was one person at the Yarbrough Tennis Center you wanted to have on the court with your hopes of advancing on the line, it was No. 53 Dudeney on court two. The UF junior had been red hot with a 10-game win streak in singles and would not let Alabama’s Andrienko deny her an 11th straight win.

Although Dudeney got off to a rough start with a 6-4 loss in set one, she began the slow battle back into the match with a much-needed 6-4 victory in the second set. With a spot in the second round of the SEC Tournament hanging in the balance of court two, Dudeney persevered, winning set three 6-3 to secure a 4-3 win for Florida.

On to Round ✌️#GoGators pic.twitter.com/bjLk3K0OjZ

— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) April 17, 2025

Up Next

Florida faces the No. 5 seeded Vanderbilt Commodores (18-5, 11-4) at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday in the second round of the SEC tournament.