Despite defeating a pair of top-60 ranked opponents on courts one and two in singles, there was no celebration for the Florida Gators on Sunday. UF had still lost its second-straight match at home.
On court one, Florida junior Rachel Gailis took on Vanderbilt senior Célia-Belle Mohr. Gailis was in complete control of the match, taking both sets 6-3 to secure a straight-sets victory. This marked No. 39 Gailis’ second victory over a top-15 opponent this season, as Mohr currently sits at No. 11 in the country. But with the match already decided, there was little for Gailis to cheer for.
The same applied for national No. 91 and Florida senior Alicia Dudeney, who faced national No. 56 and Vanderbilt sophomore Valeria Ray on court two. Ray won the first set 6-1 with ease, but Dudeney fought back and took the second set 6-0. Since the dual match was decided, the umpire had the two play a superset tiebreaker, a tight contest that the Florida senior won 10-8.
Despite these two late victories on courts one and two, the Gators were dominated by the visiting Commodores 5-2 in Sunday's dual match at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville.
The Gators came into Sunday in mixed form. Per Nilsson’s team had won three of its last four games after having lost four of its previous five before that stretch. These victories bumped Florida up to No. 22 in the ITA rankings and placed two doubles pairs and two players in singles in the top 100. However, in their last time out, the Gators were upset by unranked Missouri at home 4-3, which ended their three-match win streak.
With Sunday’s matchup, the Gators had the chance to get back in the win column and defeat their first top-15-ranked opponent of the season.
No. 15 Vanderbilt has also experienced some ups and downs as of late. The Commodores are 12-4 on the season and 5-2 in the SEC. Before Sunday, head coach Aleke Tsoubanos’ team lost three of its last four games, including a 6-1 defeat to No. 8 Auburn on the road last Friday.
Sunday’s contest started with the visitors taking the doubles point. The Commodores won their first doubles match on court one, where their No. 14 pair of senior Mohr and junior Sophia Webster took on Florida’s No. 60 pair of seniors Bente Speed and Dudeney.
The Gator pair grabbed the first two games, but Mohr and Webster took the following six to prevail 6-2. This marks the Florida pair’s first defeat since March 2 against then No. 2 Georgia in Athens, ending a four-match win streak for the pair.
To secure the doubles point, Vanderbilt junior Bridget Stammel and senior Amy Stevens took down Florida’s freshman pair of Talia Neilson-Gatenby and Noémie Oliveras on court three. The Vanderbilt pair took an early 3-0 lead, but the Florida freshmen crawled back into the match and cut their deficit to 4-3. Stammel and Stevens won the following two games to secure a 6-3 victory.
The Commodores continued their dominance in singles, namely on courts three through six. Vanderbilt won all seven completed sets by at least three games or more.
Vanderbilt expanded their lead to 2-0 on court three, where Florida’s Neilson-Gatenby took on No. 44 Stammel. After dropping the first set 6-1, the Florida freshman was forced to retire from the match with an undisclosed injury, as she walked off the court and made her way to the clubhouse in the middle of the second set.
On court six, Florida freshman walk-on Reagan Parker fell to Stevens in straight sets 6-2, 6-0. This result marked Parker’s second-consecutive singles loss by straight sets.
The visitors took the match-clinching fourth point on court five, where Oliveras took on Webster. After dropping the first set 6-1, the UF freshman was unable to crawl back, falling to Webster in the second set 6-2.
The wave of momentum for Vanderbilt did not stop on court four. Spee took on Vanderbilt freshman Trinetra Vijayakumar and fell behind early in the first set 6-2. Despite Spee’s efforts, she dropped the second set 6-3.
Florida finished the day taking care of business on courts one and two, but still fell short to Vanderbilt 5-2.
The Gators are now 7-8 on the year and will look to bounce back against the Arkansas Razorbacks at home on Friday.
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.
