After defeating No. 25 FIU 4-2 comfortably on Saturday, the Gators would lose their first game of the season to No. 22 LSU 4-1, eliminating their chances of qualifying for the ITA Indoor National Championships.
After defeating UNF to begin duals play last weekend, the Gators came into this weekend’s ITA Kickoff Weekend looking to maintain their form. Florida hosted the Florida International Panthers, Miami Hurricanes and Louisiana State Tigers in a two-day four-team single elimination tournament with a chance to qualify for the ITA Indoor National Championship.
To start this weekend’s tournament, the Gators faced the No. 25 Panthers, followed by the No. 22 Tigers facing the No. 23 Hurricanes on Saturday. FIU came into this matchup defeating Miami 4-0 last weekend. Florida secured its spot in the championship game for Sunday by winning a close contest against FIU, 4-2.
The dual match started with the Gators dominating in doubles.
On court three, UF senior Emily De Oliveira returned for the Gators after sustaining an injury last spring. De Oliveira and freshman Nikola Daubnerova took down FIU’s sophomore pair Aleksandra Simeva and Petja Drame, 6-1.
Florida’s senior pair of Dudeney and Bente Spee faced off against FIU junior Ekaterina Khairutdinove and sophomore Valery Gynina on court one. Spee and Dudeney cruised to a 6-3 victory, securing the doubles point for the Gators.
To round things off, UF freshman pair Talia Neilson-Gatenby and Noémie Oliveras faced FIU junior Oyinlomo Quadre and senior Anja Draskovic. The match was abandoned at 4-4- since Florida won the two prior doubles matches to secure the doubles point.
Singles were much more competitive.
On court one, De Oliveira took on Khairutdinova. De Oliveira’s rust showed as she lost in straight sets 6-2 and6-0.
Florida also fell short on court three, where Neilson-Gatenby faced Gynina. Despite comfortably winning the first set 6-1, Neilson-Gatenby was defeated in the second set 6-2. In the third set, Gynina took an early 5-2 lead, but not for a lack of effort, Neilson-Gatenby would lose the set 6-4.
Meanwhile, Daubnerova and Oliveras won in straight sets. Daubnerova defeated FIU? junior Katerina Mandelikova on court four 6-1, 6-2. Oliveras beat Drame in the first set 6-2, and despite Drame forcing a tiebreaker in the second set, Oliveras won the set 7-6.
With the score at 3-2 in favor of Florida, all eyes were on court two, where Dudeney took on Quadre.
Dudeney lost the first set 6-2, but after forcing a tiebreaker in the second set, she would win the second set 7-6. With the pressure bearing down on her, Dudeney thrived and won the third set 6-0, securing the fourth point and victory for the Gators.
Spee took on Draskovic on court five, but her game was abandoned once Dudeney secured the win for Florida.
“The team's fight didn't surprise me today—we are working on our toughness and are starting to learn what it's supposed to look and feel like,” head coach Per Nilsson said.
Following the Florida victory, LSU and Miami faced each other, where LSU won comfortably 4-0.
The stage was set for Sunday, as the Gators took on the Tigers with a ticket to the ITA Indoor National Championships on the line.
Unfortunately for the Gators, they would struggle against LSU and lose 4-1.
The struggles started in doubles.
Neilson-Gatenby and Oliveras faced freshman Tilwith Di Girolami and sophomore Anita Sahdiieva on court two. The Florida freshmen stood no chance as they lost 6-2.
De Oliveira and Daubnerova also lost in their doubles match. The two fell short to LSU’s sophomore Kenna Erickson and fifth-year senior Gaby Rivera 6-4, securing the doubles point for LSU.
Dudeney and Spee faced freshman pair Cadence Brace and Kayla Cross on court one, but their watch would be abandoned at 6-6 with LSU already securing the doubles point.
Things started to look promising in singles when Oliveras took down Rivera 6-1 in both sets. But from then on, things went south for the Gators.
On court two, De Oliveira started things off slowly, losing the first set against Cross 6-1. The senior bounced back and took the second set 6-3, but Cross took control and won the third set 6-1.
Neilson-Gatenby and Daubnerova lost their matches in straight sets.
Neilson-Gatenby lost 7-6, 6-2 on court three to Di Girolami. Daubnerova struggled heavily at first after getting begeled in the first set against Sahdiieva. The freshman kept the second set close, but ultimately lost 7-5.
With Sahdiieva’s victory, the Tigers reached the dual match-clinching fourth point to defeat the Gators and secure their spot in the ITA Indoor National Championships.
This match marked Florida’s first loss under Nilsson, as they now attain a record of 2-1 on the young spring season.
The Gators will look to bounce back on the court as they head on the road to face No.8 University of Michigan on Feb. 4 for their first away match of the spring season.
Contact Jeffrey Serber at Jserber@alligator.org. Follow him on X @JeffreySerber.
Jeffrey is the Spring 2025 women's tennis beat reporter and a first-year journalism sports & media major. In his free time, he enjoys hanging out with friends and family, and rooting for the Miami sports teams.
