Despite forfeiting a match in both doubles and singles, Florida ended its losing streak after defeating Georgia Southern 6-1 to close its road trip before conference play begins.
Florida came into today’s match needing a victory to get back on track. Its losing streak started at the ITA Kickoff Weekend, where Florida lost to No. 22 LSU 4-2 in the championship match.
In the last match, Florida lost 7-0 against No. 7 Michigan in Ann Arbor to open up this road trip, putting head coach Per Nilsson in a difficult spot to start his first season with Florida. A victory would allow the Gators to get back over .500, with SEC play coming up next.
Georgia Southern came into this dual match off a four-match winning streak, which included a 6-1 victory over Charleston on Friday..
The Gators turned the page and finished non-conference play with a 6-1 win over the Eagles.
Florida started doubles play by forfeiting on court three. Therefore, the Gators had to win both matches on courts one and two to secure the doubles point.
On court one, junior Rachel Gailis and senior Bente Spee faced Georgia Southern's sophomore Mackenzie Leopold and freshman Lisen Rinman. Spee and Gailis took an early 3-1 lead, and despite Leopold and Rinman tying the match 3-3, the Florida pair pushed through to win 6-3.
Freshman pair Nikola Daubnerova and Talia Neilson-Gatenby took on Georgia Southern's freshman pair Hanna Eifert and Franzi Heinemann. Eifert and Heinemann came into this game 3-0 on the season in doubles. However, Daubnerova and Neilson-Gatenby took care of business, defeating Eifer and Heinemann 6-0 to hand them their first loss.
With these two victories, the Gators secured the doubles point despite forfeiting the match on court three.
Like in doubles, Florida had to forfeit a match in singles, this time on court six. This move let Georgia Southern tie the dual match 1-1.
Despite this hurdle, Florida stood strong and dominated in singles.
Florida’s Gailis faced Eagles junior Juliette Nask, who came into this game 3-1 in singles on the season. Gailis took control early by winning the first set 6-1 and later maintained momentum to secure a straight sets victory by winning the second set 6-2.
On court four, Spee took on Leopold and won in straight sets by taking the first set 6-1 and the second set 6-2.
UF Freshman Noémie Oliveras won in straight sets against freshman Amelie Rosadoro, but it took a lot of fight. Georgia Southern’s Rosadoro took a demanding 5-2 lead in the first set, but Oliveras fought back to win the first set 7-6. After that comeback, Oliveras did not stop as she comfortably won the second set 6-2 to secure a straight sets victory.
This result gave the Gators a 4-1 lead on the day, securing a victory over the Eagles.
Neilson-Gatenby faced Rimnan and secured the first set 6-2. Rinman would not go down without a fight, taking a 6-5 lead in the second set. Neilson-Gatenby stood tall and won the following two games to win the second set 7-6, securing a straight sets victory.
On court three, Daubnerova would be the only Gator to drop a set, losing the first set 7-6 to Heinemann. The freshman from Slovakia bounced back to take the second set 6-4 and force a super-set tiebreaker. Daubnerova was in control, winning the tiebreaker 10-5 to secure victory.
This 6-1 victory over Georgia Southern puts the Gators back over .500 with a record of 3-2. Next, the Gators will start SEC play as they face Auburn on the road on Feb. 23.
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.
