After Florida lost two of its last three games, head coach Per Nilsson decided to change his singles lineup by switching the spots of freshmen Nikola Daubnerova and Talia Neilson-Gatenby. Despite the adjustment, Florida’s struggles remained, as UF left South Carolina without a single point, losing 4-0.
For much of the season, Neilson-Gatenby has played on court three in singles, while Daubnerova has been on court four. For today’s match, Nilsson flipped the pair.
Neilson-Gatenby took on Gamecocks senior Misa Malkin. The UF freshman from Great Britain struggled, losing the match in straight sets 6-3, 6-4, despite having a 4-0 lead in the second set. This result marks Neilson-Gatenby’s second singles defeat in a row, as well as the fifth loss in her last six matches.
Despite not registering a loss, Daubnerova also partly struggled against senior Olympe Lancelot. The Florida freshman lost the first set 6-3, and although she was leading 4-3 in the second set, the match was abandoned after South Carolina secured their contest-clinching fourth point on the day.
The Gators came into Friday’s meet on a low note. Nilsson’s team has dropped three of its last four contests and were hungry for their first SEC win. In its last time out, Florida lost to No. 2 Auburn 5-2, despite winning singles matches on courts one and two. With the meeting with South Carolina coming in between a pair matches against top-five opponents, it appeared to be a prime opportunity for the Gators to secure their first conference win of the season. However, Florida came up empty.
South Carolina was also coming off a loss to a ranked opponent, as the Gamecocks previously fell short against No. 1 Georgia 6-1 on the road and were still looking for their own first SEC win of the season.
The dual match started off with a competitive round of doubles matches.
Florida’s senior pair of Alicia Dudeney and Bente Spee faced South Carolina’s No. 57 pair of redshirt sophomore Kaitlyn Carnicella and senior Sarah Hamner. Dudeney and Spee secured Florida’s only victory of the day, defeating Carnicella and Hamner 7-5 on court one.
On court two, junior Rachel Gailis and Neilson-Gatenby took on Lancelot and freshman Bella Bergkvist Larsson. South Carolina’s pair cruised to victory, defeating Gailis and Neilson-Gatenby 6-1.
With the doubles point on the line, freshman Noémie Oliveras and Daubneroa were in a back-and-forth battle with South Carolina’s freshmen pair Helena Buchwald and Jana Stojanova. Despite Oliveras and Daubnerova taking an early 4-1 lead, Buchwald and Stojanova fought back to secure the doubles point, defeating the Florida pair 7-5.
Singles proved to be equally as painful for the Gators.
All three of UF’s singles losses came in straight sets, with Florida winning only one of the nine completed sets on the day. Of the eight sets lost, five were decided by more than two games.
On court six, Oliveras struggled early against Buchwald, losing the first set 6-1. The freshman was unable to come back as Buchwald secured the straight sets victory by taking the second set 6-2.
To finish off the sweep, Bergkvist Larsson took down Spee 6-4, 6-3 on court five. This marks Spee’s second singles loss in a row and third loss in the last four matches.
The result gave the Gamecocks their fourth point on the day, securing their first conference victory of the young season.
The Gators are now 3-4 and under .500 for the first time this season. They’ll look to secure their first conference victory on the road March 2 against No. 2 Georgia in Athens.
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.
