In what has become an annual tradition, Gators women’s tennis started their season at the 21st annual Freeman Memorial Tournament at the Fertitta Tennis Complex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
However, No. 10-ranked UF failed to bring home any championships among stiff competition, which included three other teams ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Division I Preseason Poll.
Also featured in the tournament was No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 8 Pepperdine, No. 15 UCLA and UNLV, who served as the tournament’s host team.
The tournament consisted of a plethora of singles and doubles matches, which concluded with multiple championships Sunday.
Florida was able to win seven singles matches and four doubles matches over the three-day tournament, with graduate student Carly Briggs leading the Gators with two singles wins.
On the singles front, Gator freshman Qavia Lopez scored a win in the consolation section of the Bellagio Draw with a straight sets victory over UNLV’s Salsa Aher on Day 3.
The Bellagio Draw was won by UCLA’s Bianca Fernandez after defeating Oklahoma State’s Lucia Peyre. Peyre also knocked out Lopez in a three-set thriller on the tournament’s opening day.
In the Venetian Draw, Oklahoma State’s Raquel Gonzalez defeated UNLV’s Coco Zhao in straight sets to capture the tournament’s second singles title.
Zhao advanced to the final after defeating UF junior Bente Spee by default in the semifinals of the draw.
Meanwhile, the Gators fared slightly better on the doubles front but still were unable to capture any titles.
The No. 38-ranked pair of freshmen Malwina Rowinksa and Lopez were one match away from the final of the Red Rock Draw, but they fell in the semifinals to the eventual champions in Pepperdine’s No.4-ranked pair of Janice Tjen and Savannah Broadus.
Also in the Red Rock Draw, juniors Alicia Dudeney and Bente Spee paired for the first time this season after making a run to the quarterfinals in last year’s NCAA Doubles Championships.
The pair put up a strong effort, but they were defeated in the draw’s semifinals by Oklahoma State’s No.6-ranked pair of Ange Oby and Anastasiya Komar in a 7-5 thriller.
However, Florida failed to score a win in the consolation portion of the Caesars Draw when the pair of senior Sara Dahlstrom and sophomore Sophie Williams beat Pepperdine’s Nikki Redelijk and Vivian Yang.
Gators head coach Roland Thornqvist was positive about the Gators’ performance despite coming up short.
“We got exactly what we wanted out of this weekend,” said Thornqvist. “We learned what we do well and what we must improve on in our quest for trophies this spring.”
The Gators return to Gainesville and have almost a week to prepare for the start of their dual season, which opens at home against Baylor on Saturday.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
