Florida Sophomore duo Alicia Dudeney and Bente Spee stood exhausted on the court.
In a nail-biting round, the Gators were tied with the Tar Heels in a 6-all round. The match winner would secure the doubles point and game advantage.
UF began with a strong serve and North Carolina easily answered for a standoff between the duos.
Dudeney and Spee remained in position to strike back when the ball flew over their heads and out of bounds to claim the Gators doubles win.
The win marked the only Florida point of the night.
The No. 16 seed Florida Gators (18-7, 9-4 SEC) fell to the No. 1 seed North Carolina Tar Heels (31-1, 13-0 ACC) 4-1 at Chewning Tennis Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The loss in the sweet sixteen round ended Florida’s run in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament.
Dudeney and Spee refused to fall to the North Carolina duo of junior Fiona Crawley and graduate student Abbey Forbes. After a lengthy battle, the duo claimed the final point in the 7-6 win to bring home the Florida doubles point.
No. 67 ranked doubles pair of Gators senior Carly Briggs and freshman Rachel Gailis led an early break to carry their 6-3 win. The win against Tar Heels senior Elizabeth Scotty and sophomore Carson Tanguilig claimed UF their first doubles win.
Florida senior Emma Shelton and freshman Sophie Williams struggled against the North Carolina pair of freshman Reese Brantmeier and junior Reilly Tran. Their 6-3 loss was the only UF doubles loss in a 2-1 doubles final.
Gators junior Sara Dahlstrom fell to Brantmeier in the singles round. Brantmeier served a break against Dahlstrom in the first set for a 6-3 loss. Dahlstrom failed to hold after two-straight breaks for a 6-1 Florida loss in the second set that resulted in North Carolina’s first point.
On court five, UF sophomore Emily De Oliveira failed to bring home a singles win against No. 100 ranked Tar Heels junior Reilly Tran. Both sets ended in a 6-3 loss with North Carolina getting an early break in each.
Spee’s singles match ended with the Tar Heels’ third point. No. 38 ranked senior Anika Yarlagadda claimed a 6-3 win in the first set and 6-2 victory in the second set.
North Carolina’s fourth —and final — point came in the Briggs-Crawley singles matchup.
No. 45 ranked Briggs fell short in her first set with a 6-2 loss. No. 1 ranked Crawley held her lead in the second set for a UNC 6-3 win.
The Gators ended their season with a 4-1 loss to the Tar Heels.
Contact Krisha Sanghavi at ksanghavi@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @krishasang.
Krisha Sanghavi is a third-year public relations and economics major. In her free time, she loves cheering on Miami sports teams and spending time with her friends.
