UF Women’s Tennis: Gators End SEC Challenge on High Note

Courtesy of University Athletic Association

BY SAM STOLTE

Women’s tennis goes undefeated in final day at season-opening tournament.

The University of Florida women’s tennis team posted two doubles victories and three singles wins as it wrapped up day three of competition Sunday at the SEC Challenge on the campus of the University of Alabama.

The Gators put together a perfect 2-0 mark in doubles and a 3-0 performance in singles.

Florida finished the weekend with a 5-1 record in doubles and it compiled a 5-4 record in singles.

Berlin and Dahlstrom won for the second time in three tries at the event, collecting a 6-3 victory over UK’s duo of Carla Girbau and Carlota Molina. Berlin and Dahlstrom raced out to an early 4-2 lead and never looked back.

Kessler and Zein, moving to a perfect 3-0 mark on the tournament, also posted a victory but in a much different fashion. The Gators’ top pairing got off to a slow start early, trailing 3-2 and 4-3, but stormed all the way back to post a 7-6(4) win. Kentucky double-faulted on the final point, propelling Kessler and Zein to a dramatic, come-from-behind win.

For the third straight day, UF’s trio of singles participants remained the same, as Zein, Berlin, and Dahlstrom all competed.

The Gators claimed two of three opening sets as Dahlstrom and Berlin got out to early leads, but Zein, despite a gritty effort, dropped her first stanza in a tie break.

The freshman Dahlstrom capped off an excellent first weekend of college tennis with a dominant 6-2, 6-1 win over Kentucky sophomore Maialen Morante.

After Dahlstrom made quick work of her opponent, both remaining matches went to third-set tiebreaks.

Berlin, after claiming the first set 6-3, saw Anastasia Tkachenko equalize the score with a 6-4 win in the second stanza. With the 10-point tiebreak in effect for the third and final set, Berlin fell behind 0-5 and 7-1 but mounted an impressive comeback and claimed the winner-take-all frame, 13-11.