The Florida State women’s tennis team came to Gainesville with just one win in program history under the lights of the Ring Tennis Complex.
It left Tuesday night with another, marking its third-consecutive victory over Florida when it only had one in program history against the Gators a season ago.
The No. 20 Seminoles (9-1) dominated No. 24 Florida (2-3) from start to finish, defeating the Gators 4-1. Though Florida’s young team suffered its third loss of the season under coach Roland Thornqvist, he believes the team is still growing and making strides with each match.
“I know the players, with their youth, it’s going to be hard for them to find some positives in tonight’s play. But it’s my job to filter through that,” Thornqvist said. “In no way will I try to attempt to diminish (the disappointment) because that’s just not what we do here.”
Florida dropped the doubles point for the fourth-consecutive match, losing both matches early. Florida State’s tandem of Carla Touly and Ariana Rahmanparast handled Florida’s freshman duo of Marlee Zein and Anastasia Kharitonova 6-2, while Victoria Emma and McCartney Kessler fell to Ana Oparenovic and Emmanuelle Salas 6-4. This was Florida’s first dual match this season in which both returning sophomores were featured after Emma had been sidelined with a shoulder injury.
“Today was the beginning of something,” Thornqvist said. “That was my message in the locker room. I think we can really get better from here. (Emma and Kessler) both need to play and compete to feel natural on the court again.”
Emma and Kessler looked promising early on, but a sailing volley return from Emma and a subsequent double fault sealed the match victory and doubles point for the Noles.
The singles play didn’t prove to be much different for the inexperienced Gators as they fell behind early, losing the first set on all but one court. Some battled back to force decisive third sets like Tsveta Dimitrova and Zein, but others failed to put up a fight losing in straight sets.
No. 39 Kessler managed to win just two games in her match, losing 6-1, 6-1 to No. 49 Carla Touly. Though No. 43 Emma fought back in the second set, her comeback effort wasn’t enough to stop FSU’s Nandini Das, losing 6-1, 7-6 (7-5). Zein couldn’t muster enough strength against No. 110 Salas, losing in three sets (6-3, 2-6, 6-4) which clinched the match victory for the Noles.
No. 17 Ida Jarlskog secured the lone point for Florida, defeating No. 103 Oparenovic with a roaring cheer towards the crowd which appeased the fans in attendance.
Though Florida’s start has been slower compared to years past, Thornqvist believes his five new members will eventually find their footing, which will lead to better results that the Florida faithful has been accustomed to from teams past.
“I do think that we can continue to grow a lot. I think we have a lot of talent. On some courts we have more talent than we know what to do with,” Thornqvist said. “I think we can certainly get better from this but today Florida State was just a little bit tougher.”
Follow Victor Prieto on Twitter @victorprieto_11 and contact him at vprieto@alligator.org.
UF women's tennis coach Roland Thornqvist: I think we have a lot of talent. On some courts we have more talent than we know what to do with.
