Games moved indoors at the last second, the lights going out in the indoor courts and only singles matches being played, are all unusual events for a typical dual match. But, in Sunday’s meet against No. 3 Texas A&M, all of the above occurred.
Florida women’s tennis’ match against the Aggies was scheduled for noon but began an hour earlier due to inclement weather. However, the delay proved not enough. At around 10:50 a.m. it began to rain during warmups, forcing all activities to shift into the Penny Indoor Facility in Gainesville, which only has three courts, compared to the six outside.
Since only three singles matches could occur at once, the umpires decided to have the teams compete in singles first and then use doubles as a tiebreaker, if needed. While things seemed to settle down, the lights on courts two and three went out, causing a five-minute delay for all three matches.
Sunday’s chaos-filled match was ultimately controlled by the Aggies, who took care of the Gators in Gainesville, sweeping UF 4-0. Florida has now lost six of its last eight contests, which includes a 1-4 run against SEC opponents.
The Aggies have continued their success from last season, where they won the 2024 NCAA Team National Championship. Texas A&M came into Sunday with an overall record of 14-1 and a perfect 4-0 in conference play. The No. 3 ranked team took down No. 6 Auburn 4-3 on the road, despite trailing 3-1 at one point.
In Florida’s last outing on Friday, it unexpectedly took down No. 9 Texas at home. With the scores tied at three points a piece, freshman Nikola Daubnerova won her singles match in three sets to secure Florida’s first SEC victory of the season. The victory was much needed for Florida as it looked to improve on its early season form and continue its fiery momentum against No. 3 Texas A&M.
Florida showed great struggles in singles. Two of the four matches were decided in straight sets, with the Aggies winning nine of the 11 completed sets. Of the nine lost for UF, two were decided by two or fewer games.
Still dealing with back and wrist pain, junior Rahcel Gailis took on A&M’s No. 3 senior Mary Stoiana. Gailis was troubled by her injury all match, as she was forced to serve underhand, which she did against Texas as well.
That Florida junior showed some fight in the first set while tying things at three, but would lose 6-3. Stoiana then secured the second set comfortably 6-1 to earn a straight-sets victory. For Gailis, the loss was her first in singles since Feb. 4 against No. 7 Michigan.
On court three, freshman Talia Neilson-Gatenby faced No. 51 junior Mia Kupres. Despite losing the first set 6-1, Neilson-Gatenby fought back to take the second set 6-3. However, Kupress took control in the third set, defeating the UF freshman 6-1.
The Aggies grabbed their third point on court two where Floria’s senior Alicia Dudeney competed in a three-set thriller against A&M’s No. 15 junior Nicole Khirin.
Despite falling behind 4-1, Dudeney forced a tiebreaker in the opening set. Still, Khirin would go on to win. Dudeney bounced back, fighting off Khirin to take the second set 7-5. However, Dudeney was out of gas by the third set, as she lost to the top-15 opponent 6-0.
To finish the dual match, A&M’s No. 57 sophomore Luciana Perez took down Daubnerova in straight sets. After losing the first set 6-1, Daubnerova showed fight by taking a 3-1 lead in the second set. Perez finished the job, claiming the second set 6-4 to secure the contest victory for the Aggies.
With this result, the Aggies maintain a perfect 5-0 record against SEC opponents, while the Gators are now 1-5 in SEC play.
Florida is 4-6 on the year and will head back on the road starting Friday to take on No. 22? Mississippi State.
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.
