The crowd looked nervous as the teams entered singles play. The Gators dropped two of three doubles matchups and handed the Razorbacks an early one-point lead.
But Florida players locked in and triggered a thrilling resurgence in singles play.
UF swept all four courts — marked by a couple of tight showdowns — and overcame its early deficit to defeat Arkansas.
Florida sophomore Bente Spee sealed the victory for the Gators and came from a set down to oust Razorbacks graduate student Kacie Harvey. The sophomore lost 6-4 in the first set but won 6-2, 6-2 in the final sets to secure the win.
The No. 16 Florida Gators (13-4, 7-2 SEC) bested the No. 54 Arkansas Razorbacks (9-10, 3-7 SEC) 5-2 Sunday afternoon at Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. The Gators got off to a slow start in doubles play but recovered in closely contested performances across multiple courts in singles play.
UF freshman Sophie Williams and sophomore Emily De Oliveira were the first Gator pair to fall; They lost to Arkansas freshman Carolina Gomez-Alonso and senior Kelly Keller. The Razorbacks outplayed the Florida duo from the opening serve. UF quickly trailed 3-1 and dropped the final three games to lose 6-1.
The doubles loss marked Williams and De Oliveira’s first defeat together all season. They previously held a 7-0 record.
Florida senior Carly Briggs and freshman Rachel Gailis — the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s No. 60-ranked doubles pair — handed Arkansas the doubles point in a loss against sophomore Grace O’Donnell and junior Lenka Stara.
Florida couldn’t get any momentum going as the Razorbacks countered every ball they returned.
With the score tallied at 5-2, the Razorbacks closed the door and swept the final game to earn the doubles point. Florida was forced to fight back from a one-point deficit to begin singles play.
Sophomores Alicia Dudeney and Bente Spee — Florida’s top-seeded doubles pair — went unfinished against No. 23 Arkansas juniors Morgan Cross and Indianna Spink. The teams traded points back and forth, and neither pair managed to take a definitive lead. The score totaled 3-3 before the match went unconcluded.
Gailis put the Gators on the board with a straight-sets win against Stara on Court 4. The UF freshman made quick work of the Razorback junior and won 6-1 in the opening set. She nearly repeated her first-set score and defeated Stara 6-2.
No. 42-ranked Florida junior Sara Dahlstrom followed not long after with a dominant performance against No. 79 Keller. The junior won 6-1, 6-3 to pick up her tenth dual-meet singles win and put Florida on top 2-1.
Dudeney played a narrowly fought matchup against Spink. The Gators sophomore ousted the Razorback 7-6 (2) in the first set. She took the second set 6-4 to improve her impressive dual-meet singles record to 12-2.
Spee tied the bow on UF’s victory with a win over Harvey. Spee rebounded from her first-set loss and won the final two sets 6-2, 6-2.
The win clinched victory for Florida, and the teams mutually agreed to finish play on the remainder of the courts.
De Oliveira lost against Cross in a matchup that went the distance. The UF sophomore barely squeaked by with a 7-6 (2) first-set victory, but Cross forced a third set with a 6-4 second-set win. The Razorbacks’ junior completed the come-from-behind victory and won the third set 6-2.
No. 45-ranked Briggs played in a back-and-forth contest versus No. 85 Gomez-Alonso. Briggs fell in the first set, 7-6 (4), but returned the gesture and won 7-6 (5) in the second set.
The Gators’ senior carried all momentum into the final set and defeated the Razorbacks’ freshman 6-3.
Florida will finish out its Spring schedule on the road and begin with a crucial Southeastern Conference matchup versus the No. 14 Tennessee Volunteers. The matchup will be played at Barksdale Stadium at 4 p.m. Friday.
Contact Luke Adragna at ladragna@alligator.org. Follow him on Twitter @lukeadrag.
Luke Adragna is a third-year journalism student and the Florida Gators football reporter at The Alligator. He is a cat ethusiast and completes the NYT Daily Mini in less than a minute each day.
