University of Tennessee Athletics
Sunday, March 17
Gainesville, Fla.
1:00 PM
University of Tennessee
2
at
4
Florida
Photo by: Austin Perryman/Tennessee Athletics
No. 16 Lady Vols Drop Road Match to No. 34 Florida, 4-2
March 17, 2019 | Women's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The 16th-ranked Tennessee women's tennis team battled across doubles and singles, but fell to No. 34 Florida on the road Sunday afternoon, 4-2.
Due to weather, the match was moved to Florida's three-court indoor facility. Each team's top three players in the singles lineup started singles competition, followed immediately by singles players four, five and six.
For the 14th time this season and third time in SEC play, Tennessee (12-5, 2-3 SEC) won the doubles point.
The Lady Vols' eighth-ranked duo of Sadie Hammond and Kaitlin Staines cruised by Florida's No. 1 doubles team of Victoria Emma and McCartney Kessler to get back to their winning ways, 6-1. Hammond and Staines are now 3-1 in SEC doubles competition and 12-1 in dual matches.
Tennessee dropped its doubles matchup on Court 2, but freshman Rebeka Mertena and junior Johanna Silva came up with a 6-3 win at the No. 3 spot to clinch the doubles point for the Lady Vols.
In singles, Ariadna Riley came up with a win for the Lady Vols, defeating Tsveta Dimitrova, 6-3, 6-3. The victory was Riley's first in singles of the conference season. The junior from Macon, Ga. has won three of her past four singles matches and is 5-2 in dual matches this spring.
Sunday's Florida (7-6, 4-2 SEC) singles lineup featured three ranked players, all of which registered wins for the Gators. No. 12 Ida Jarlskog, 44th-ranked Kessler and 52nd-ranked Emma defeated Tennessee's No. 65 Hammond, Staines and Silva, respectively.
Silva won the first set over Emma, 6-4, before ultimately falling in three sets, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Mertena also fell in singles for the Lady Vols, dropping a first-set tiebreaker before also dropping the second set, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
UP NEXT: The Lady Vols return to Knoxville next weekend for a pair of home SEC matches. Tennessee takes on Mississippi State on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before facing Ole Miss at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
RESULTS
No. 34 Florida 4, No. 16 Tennessee 2
Singles
1. #12 Ida Jarlskog (UF) def. #65 Sadie Hammond (UT), 6-3, 6-3
2. #44 McCartney Kessler (UF) def. Kaitlin Staines (UT), 6-2, 7-6 (6)
3. #52 Victoria Emma (UF) def. Johanna Silva (UT), 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
4. Marlee Zein (UF) def. Rebeka Mertena (UT), 7-6 (5), 6-3
5. Ariadna Riley (UT) def. Tsveta Dimitrova (UF), 6-3, 6-3
6. Anastasia Kharitonova (UF) vs. Tenika McGiffin (UT), 6-0, unfinished
Doubles
1. #8 Hammond/Staines (UT) def. Emma/Kessler (UF), 6-1
2. Dimitrova/Jarlskog (UF) def. Haumuller/McGiffin (UT), 6-1
3. Mertena/Silva (UT) def. Kharitonova/Zein (UF), 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3); Singles (1, 2, 3, 5, 4)
Due to weather, the match was moved to Florida's three-court indoor facility. Each team's top three players in the singles lineup started singles competition, followed immediately by singles players four, five and six.
For the 14th time this season and third time in SEC play, Tennessee (12-5, 2-3 SEC) won the doubles point.
The Lady Vols' eighth-ranked duo of Sadie Hammond and Kaitlin Staines cruised by Florida's No. 1 doubles team of Victoria Emma and McCartney Kessler to get back to their winning ways, 6-1. Hammond and Staines are now 3-1 in SEC doubles competition and 12-1 in dual matches.
Tennessee dropped its doubles matchup on Court 2, but freshman Rebeka Mertena and junior Johanna Silva came up with a 6-3 win at the No. 3 spot to clinch the doubles point for the Lady Vols.
In singles, Ariadna Riley came up with a win for the Lady Vols, defeating Tsveta Dimitrova, 6-3, 6-3. The victory was Riley's first in singles of the conference season. The junior from Macon, Ga. has won three of her past four singles matches and is 5-2 in dual matches this spring.
Sunday's Florida (7-6, 4-2 SEC) singles lineup featured three ranked players, all of which registered wins for the Gators. No. 12 Ida Jarlskog, 44th-ranked Kessler and 52nd-ranked Emma defeated Tennessee's No. 65 Hammond, Staines and Silva, respectively.
Silva won the first set over Emma, 6-4, before ultimately falling in three sets, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Mertena also fell in singles for the Lady Vols, dropping a first-set tiebreaker before also dropping the second set, 7-6 (5), 6-3.
UP NEXT: The Lady Vols return to Knoxville next weekend for a pair of home SEC matches. Tennessee takes on Mississippi State on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before facing Ole Miss at 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon.
RESULTS
No. 34 Florida 4, No. 16 Tennessee 2
Singles
1. #12 Ida Jarlskog (UF) def. #65 Sadie Hammond (UT), 6-3, 6-3
2. #44 McCartney Kessler (UF) def. Kaitlin Staines (UT), 6-2, 7-6 (6)
3. #52 Victoria Emma (UF) def. Johanna Silva (UT), 4-6, 6-2, 7-5
4. Marlee Zein (UF) def. Rebeka Mertena (UT), 7-6 (5), 6-3
5. Ariadna Riley (UT) def. Tsveta Dimitrova (UF), 6-3, 6-3
6. Anastasia Kharitonova (UF) vs. Tenika McGiffin (UT), 6-0, unfinished
Doubles
1. #8 Hammond/Staines (UT) def. Emma/Kessler (UF), 6-1
2. Dimitrova/Jarlskog (UF) def. Haumuller/McGiffin (UT), 6-1
3. Mertena/Silva (UT) def. Kharitonova/Zein (UF), 6-3
Order of finish: Doubles (1, 2, 3); Singles (1, 2, 3, 5, 4)
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Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Tennis
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/ Women's Tennis
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