Ida Jarlskog and McCartney Kessler had been the Gators’ women’s tennis team’s best players all fall. The two easily sliced through the ITA Southeastern Regional like a hot knife through butter, with Jarlskog defeating Kessler in the finals of that tournament.
Neither were fazed by the higher stakes and increased competition of the Oracle ITA Fall National Championships in Surprise, Arizona, on Wednesday. They both advanced to the round of 32 of the singles bracket.
Jarlskog continued her Death-Valley-hot stretch of play this fall season with a sweep of UNC’s Cameron Mora. The junior, who is now 11-2 on the season, notched her seventh consecutive singles victory after her 6-1, 6-4 win. Jarlskog will play Vanderbilt’s Fernanda Contreras in the next round.
Kessler needed to put in a little more work than her teammate to beat Vanderbilt’s Emily Smith. She dropped the first game to Smith 4-6, but she responded with a 6-3 win. Kessler walked away with a victory with a 6-4 win of her own in the third game. Kessler’s next matchup is against Michigan’s Kate Fahey.
Kessler had a preview of her competition in the singles bracket in her doubles match with sophomore Victoria Emma against Fahey and Brienne Minor. The Florida duo lost 2-6, 6-7 and were eliminated from the doubles bracket.
Follow Brendan Farrell on Twitter @Bfarrell727 and contact him at bfarrell@alligator.org
