GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 18 Florida women’s tennis team trailed early and couldn’t overcome the deficit against No. 68 Kentucky on Sunday afternoon at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex, falling 4-2.
For Florida (8-4, 3-2 SEC), doubles play started strong against Kentucky (8-6, 2-3 SEC) thanks to a dominant showing once again from No. 60 Carly Briggs/Rachel Gailis on court two. Jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the Gators pair converted three breaks on Ellie Eades/Zoe Hammond’s serve and cruised to the 6-2 victory for their sixth consecutive win.
At the third doubles position, Emma Shelton/Sophie Williams fell behind 2-0 early, but equalized by winning the next two games. Lidia Gonzales/Florencia Uruttia broke Shelton/William’s serve to go up 5-3, however, the Florida duo broke back before Gonzales/Uruttia managed to convert another break for the 6-4 victory. This left it up to court one with Alicia Dudeney/Bente Spee hoping to convert a break down 5-4 on Carlota Molina/Elizabeth Steven’s serve, but Kentucky held strong to snatch the doubles point.
Kentucky tacked on another point for the 2-0 lead with a victory on court six, as Maialen Morante brought down Shelton, 6-2, 6-0. Needing wins in four of the remaining five singles matches, Dudeney brought the Gators back within one by dominating both sets, 6-2, 6-2 at court two over Eades and extending her winning streak to four matches.
After dropping the first set, No. 47 Briggs recorded a bagel on No. 74 Florencia Urrutia to force a deciding third-set and potentially shifting the match’s momentum back in…
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