The Florida women’s tennis team entered the Ring Tennis Complex on Sunday in a must-win situation.
The Gators would be ineligible for an at-large selection in the NCAA Tournament if they finished the season below .500 — they entered Sunday’s contest in seventh place in the SEC with a 9-9 record.
UF’s match against Auburn — who entered Gainesville on a 10-match losing streak — was tight from the start, but late breakthroughs from freshman Sydney Berlin and sophomore Ida Jarlskog clinched a crucial 4-2 victory for the Gators.
“I was really happy to see that we were able to withstand (Auburn’s) best punch and pull out the win,” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We have a short season in which we really need to excel in order to make the NCAAs… and it’s really going to be a mini playoff-type scenario going down the stretch.”
Sophomore McCartney Kessler returned for Florida (10-9, 7-5 SEC) in doubles play after missing Friday’s 4-1 loss against Alabama due to a hip injury. She guided the Gators to a swift victory in the opening point for the second time in their last five matches.
Freshman duo Marlee Zein and Berlin dominated Auburn’s Alannah Griffin and Caroline Turner in a 6-2 win, while Florida’s lone ranked pair in No. 65 Victoria Emma and Kessler reunited and handled Madeline Meredith and Taylor Russo (6-4) to clinch the point.
“I thought doubles was much better with McCartney (Kessler) in there,” Thornqvist said. “Everyone was locked in at a different level because of that.”
Though Kessler returned for doubles, Thornqvist wasn’t confident she was healthy enough to start in the singles lineup and instead gave Katie Kubicz the nod for her fourth start this season.
It wasn’t the sophomore’s day on Court 6, with Kubicz winning just one game the entire match in a 6-1, 6-0 drubbing to Turner for the Tigers’ first point.
Auburn’s Russo made quick work of Zein on Court 3 in a straight-set win (6-4, 6-1), resulting in the freshman’s second-consecutive loss and a 2-1 Auburn lead. No. 78 Emma answered back in her three-set match against Meredith with a commanding 6-0 frame for her second straight-win (6-3, 4-6, 6-0), evening the match at two.
Momentum shifted in Florida’s favor as Berlin grinded out a gritty 7-5, 7-6 (7-4) win over Yu Chen to put the Gators just one point away from victory.
Attention turned to the main court, where No. 8 Jarlskog fought back to force a decisive third set over No. 103 Jaeda Daniel after dropping her first set. The final frame was all Jarlskog, clinching the Gators’ 10th victory of the season 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 and her team-best 12th dual match win of the season.
“I thought Auburn had fantastic heart and fought so hard,” Thornqvist said. “Hopefully we get McCartney back in the singles lineup before long because that makes us a completely different team.”
Follow Victor Prieto on Twitter @victorprieto_11 and contact him at vprieto@alligator.org.
UF women's tennis coach Roland Thornqvist said everyone was locked in Sunday's 4-2 victory over Auburn.
