No. 16 Florida Sweeps Missouri. Gators improve to 10-0 all-time against the Tigers

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - Florida women's tennis posted their fourth consecutive victory on Friday, downing Missouri 7-0 behind impressive performances in both doubles and singles play. Today's match marked the second 7-0 sweep of the season, and the first in SEC play.

Florida came out strong during the doubles competition. On court three, Emily De Oliveira and Sophie Williams opened up a 4-1 lead to take the crucial early advantage. The duo never looked back, winning the final two games and taking the match 6-1.

Similarly, on the court right next to them, Alicia Dudeney and Bente Spee fired out the gate, opening up a 5-0 advantage to take control on court one. After back-to-back game wins from Missouri's sister duo of Mae Canete and Inah Canete, the Gators shut the door with a 6-2 win to secure the doubles point.

In singles, No. 45 Carly Briggs made quick work of the first set, winning 6-1 in dominant fashion on court two before battling to a 6-3 second set win to tack on the first singles point for the Gators.

Seconds later at three singles, Dudeney notched her sixth SEC singles win 6-2, 6-3. The Hove, United Kingdom native burst out into a 6-2 first set win before rolling her momentum into a victory for Florida's third point.

At the one singles slot, No. 42 Sara Dahlstrom established a 4-1 lead in the first set over #72 M. Cante, eventually notching the first frame 6-2. After the Tigers' M. Cante battled back in the second, Dahlstrom clinched the match for Florida, 6-2, 6-4.

De Oliveira at five singles controlled her first set 6-2. After a late push from Missouri's I. Cante late in the second set, the Florida sophomore pushed through, avoiding a third set with a 7-5 second frame win for her sixth-straight dual singles victory this season.

After dropping the first set, Spee battled back to win the second set 6-3 before dominating her 10-point tiebreak set (10-1) following Florida's clinch. Spee has now won two of her last three matches at the six singles slot.

Rachel Gailis also slipped to start singles, falling in her first set 4-6 before rebounding with a 6-4 win. With her teammates cheering her on, Gailis secured the Florida sweep, winning the tiebreaker 11-9. The freshman registered her eighth dual single win of the season, and third in conference play.

The Gators are set for their final home match and senior day against No. 54 Arkansas on Sunday, April 2nd at 1 p.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.

QUOTES FROM THE COURT Head Coach Roland Thornqvist

"Clearly, we have a lot of confidence in doubles right now because it's been going our way for the most part the last three weeks or so. You can see our No. 1 doubles team plays fantastic, I don't even have to talk to them. We do good work during the week, and then just let them run out here, just tearing it up. That's awesome to see. I thought we did well in singles. We talked about it being hot and they weren't ready for that so long exchanges are good for us. I thought we handled it well. But the highlight was to see our two players right next to one another on (court) four and six who were in super tiebreakers. The whole team was able to see them both really navigate that close at the end of set, end of match scenarios with both of them managing themselves well. Head is up, good body language, communicating with the teammates on the sideline, fist bumps. No bad body language, it was great to see. Having teaching moments after you win is good, but it was good for the rest of the team to see and I thought it was key for us to win those close ones to manage themselves there at the end, so I'm really happy about that. They had tough battles this past weekend too, so in the SEC, especially at Florida, you're getting everyone's best shot every play. It's good for us, it's good for them. They're learning how to win, and learning to play with pressure. To be able to do it in front of our fans and the teammates right there and handle it the right way, do the right things with the mechanics of playing a close match, they get a five out of five."

Singles

1. #42 Sara Dahlstrom (UF) def. #75 Mae Canete (MIZ) 6-2, 6-4

2. #45 Carly Briggs (UF) def. Laura Masic (MIZ) 6-1, 6-3

3. Alicia Dudeney (UF) def. Emelie Schwarte (MIZ) 6-2, 6-3

4. Rachel Gailis (UF) def. Gabriela Martinez (MIZ) 4-6, 6-4, 11-9

5. Emily De Oliveira (UF) def. Inah Canete (MIZ) 6-2, 7-5

6. Bente Spee (UF) def. Andrea Artimedi (MIZ) 2-6, 6-3, 10-1

Order of finish: 2,3,1,5,6,4

Doubles

1. Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee (UF) def. Inah Canete/Mae Canete (MIZ) 6-1

2. #60 Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis (UF) vs. Andrea Artimedi/Emelie Schwarte (MIZ) 3-5, unfinished

3. Emily De Oliveira/Sophie Williams (UF) def. Gabriela Martinez/Laura Masic (MIZ) 6-1

(Special to 1st & Ten Florida by Florida Athletics)

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