ATHENS, Ga. – No. 14 Florida women’s tennis saw its first victory of the 2024 SEC Tournament defeating No. 19 South Carolina 4-3 in a challenging quarterfinals matchup. The win over South Carolina confirms the Gators’ spot in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament and marks Florida’s eleventh consecutive win.
The Gators started the contest with another dominant performance on court three with Rachel Gailis and Bente Spee defeating Olympe Lancelot and Misa Malkin 6-1. Gailis and Spee were up 5-0 before South Carolina tallied a singular game at 5-1. The duo quickly retaliated to close out 6-1 and secure Florida’s first win of the day.
Clinching the doubles point for Florida was Carly Briggs and Qavia Lopez on court two. The pair challenged Shachar Biran and Elise Mills from the jump and ultimately broke their serve at 5-2 to solidify a 6-2 win. Lopez and Briggs now hold a four-match win streak and gave Florida a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
The start of singles play was a battle with two matches going into extra games and one first set tiebreaker. Florida rallied to take three first sets on courts one, three, and five and Carly Briggs was the first to close out on the singles side. Briggs faced Shahar Biran and was tested in the first set trailing 5-4 with Biran holding several set point opportunities. Briggs found a way to fight back and tie it up at five games all before gaining the lead at 6-5. Briggs was then down 40-0 with Biran on track to force a first set tiebreaker but without hesitation Briggs won four points in a row to secure the set 7-5. Briggs determination carried over to the second set blanking Biran 6-0 to give the Gators its second point of the match.
The Gators led 2-0 before the Gamecocks tallied its first point of the day. Alicia Dudeney put up a solid fight on court four against Elise Mills but ultimately fell 6-4, 6-4. Rachel Gailis fired back for Florida with a three-set win against No. 16 Sarah Hamner. Gailis dominated from all angles, taking the first set 6-4 before Hamner challenged her in the second at 4-4. Hamner took the final two games of the second sit to force a third set on court one.
Eager to grab another top-20 win, Rachel Gailis quickly went up 4-0 on Sarah Hamner in the final set. Hamner’s only game of the set came from deuce point at 4-0 to put the score at 4-1. From there Gailis secured the final two games to garner a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory and put Florida at a 3-1…
The Gators started the contest with another dominant performance on court three with Rachel Gailis and Bente Spee defeating Olympe Lancelot and Misa Malkin 6-1. Gailis and Spee were up 5-0 before South Carolina tallied a singular game at 5-1. The duo quickly retaliated to close out 6-1 and secure Florida’s first win of the day.
Clinching the doubles point for Florida was Carly Briggs and Qavia Lopez on court two. The pair challenged Shachar Biran and Elise Mills from the jump and ultimately broke their serve at 5-2 to solidify a 6-2 win. Lopez and Briggs now hold a four-match win streak and gave Florida a 1-0 advantage heading into singles play.
The start of singles play was a battle with two matches going into extra games and one first set tiebreaker. Florida rallied to take three first sets on courts one, three, and five and Carly Briggs was the first to close out on the singles side. Briggs faced Shahar Biran and was tested in the first set trailing 5-4 with Biran holding several set point opportunities. Briggs found a way to fight back and tie it up at five games all before gaining the lead at 6-5. Briggs was then down 40-0 with Biran on track to force a first set tiebreaker but without hesitation Briggs won four points in a row to secure the set 7-5. Briggs determination carried over to the second set blanking Biran 6-0 to give the Gators its second point of the match.
The Gators led 2-0 before the Gamecocks tallied its first point of the day. Alicia Dudeney put up a solid fight on court four against Elise Mills but ultimately fell 6-4, 6-4. Rachel Gailis fired back for Florida with a three-set win against No. 16 Sarah Hamner. Gailis dominated from all angles, taking the first set 6-4 before Hamner challenged her in the second at 4-4. Hamner took the final two games of the second sit to force a third set on court one.
Eager to grab another top-20 win, Rachel Gailis quickly went up 4-0 on Sarah Hamner in the final set. Hamner’s only game of the set came from deuce point at 4-0 to put the score at 4-1. From there Gailis secured the final two games to garner a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory and put Florida at a 3-1…
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