Florida hosts No.11 Georgia in SEC Home Opener

GAINESVILLE, FL. – The Gators will host No.11 Georgia in their first home match of the SEC season on Friday evening. Florida is back home after going 1-1 on the road. The Gators notched a 4-0 win against LSU on Friday evening and dropped to Texas A&M 4-3 on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs are coming off back to back SEC wins. Georgia defeated Missouri 4-0 on Friday and posted another 4-0 win against Arkansas. Florida is looking to record another victory in the win column.

Despite the Gators opening the opening SEC weekend with a much-needed win against LSU and falling to Texas A&M, Florida has proven to be a tough competitor. Freshman Qavia Lopez currently has an overall record of 6-1 and is undefeated 2-0 in conference action. Lopez is on a 4-match win streak in singles but remains unranked by ITA. Alicia Dudeney, who is 6-4 overall and 2-0 in SEC action finds herself on a three-match win streak. The junior has posted wins against Texas A&M, LSU, and Pepperdine.

On the doubles side, freshman duo Malwina Rowinska/Qavia Lopez have made a big impact for the Gators. The freshman have only dropped one match against No.4 Mary Stoiana/Mia Kupres in Florida’s last outing against Texas A&M. Veteran pair Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis is the only doubles duo looking to extend their three-game streak. Briggs/Gailis has an overall record of 4-3 and is 2-0 against SEC opponents.

Ahead of Friday’s match, Georgia currently sits at No.10 with five ranked players in singles and two ranked doubles teams. Alexandra Vecic ranks as No.24 with a 5-4 overall record. Dasha Vidmanova is not far behind ranking at No.29, Mell Reasco sits at No.68, Mai Nirundorn ranks at No.78 and Anastasiia Lopata rounds out the ranked players for the Bulldogs at No.98.

On the doubles side, Aysegul Mert/Dasha Vidmanova find themselves taking the No.8 spot with a 14-8 overall record.

LAST TIME OUT

The Gators will enter this match 5-6, falling to No.4 Texas A&M 4-3 on Sunday afternoon. The Aggies took the doubles point despite Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis winning the first match 6-2. The doubles point proved to be the deciding factor in this match as both teams won three singles matches respectively.

Qavia Lopez posted the first win for the Gators, defeating Daria Smetannikov 6-4,6-2. Alicia Dudeney followed suit notching the second point for Florida after defeating Lucciana Perez 6-4,6-3. Sara Dahlstrom finished the match for the Gators after a hard-fought battle with No.30 Mia Kupres….