March has been very kind to Florida sophomore Rachel Gailis.
The No. 45-ranked singles player in the country has been on a roll this month, putting together a singles record of 5-1 while defeating four straight ranked opponents.
And that loss just happened to be to the No. 1 singles player in the country in Texas A&M junior Mary Stoiana.
Gailis scored yet another win Sunday, storming to a straight-set victory on Court 1 over Alabama’s 83rd-ranked junior Petra Sedlackova.
The sophomore was on fire in the first set, shutting Sedlackova out 6-0. The second set was more competitive, but Gailis took a 7-1 win in a tiebreaker to prevail 7-6.
Gailis’ win earned UF its deciding point in what ended up being a 4-0 victory, as the No. 16 Gators (8-7, 4-2 SEC) defeated No. 17 Alabama (13-3, 4-2).
It was Florida’s third-straight victory over a ranked conference opponent following its home wins over No. 22 Tennessee and No. 13 Auburn.
The Gators came out strong in doubles play, as Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist stuck with his new doubles pairings he implemented Friday.
It took only 19 minutes for Florida’s team of graduate student Carly Briggs and freshman Qavia Lopez to win their match on Court 2 against Alabama’s duo of senior Anne Marie Hiser and freshman Priya Nelson.
Briggs and Lopez were firing on all cylinders, storming to a 6-0 victory in a near-flawless performance.
Meanwhile, on Court 3, Alabama’s pair of Ola Pitak and Klara Milicevic got the better of Florida’s duo of junior Bente Spee and Gailis 6-4.
With the doubles point on the line, junior Alicia Dudeney and freshman Malwina Rowinska defeated Alabama’s pair of senior Anna Parkhomenko and Sedlackova 6-4.
It was Dudeney and Rowinska’s first win as a pair, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for Florida, who secured the crucial doubles point with the victory.
The momentum stayed intact for the Gators in singles play, as UF took the first set on all six courts.
The second Florida point of the day came on Court 4, where Dudeney got the better of Milicevic in straight sets.
The first set nearly went the distance, but Dudeney was able to pull out a 7-5 win. She then dominated in the second set 6-1 to win her match.
The Gators then earned another point on Court 2, as No. 80 senior Sara Dahlstrom continued her unbeaten run in SEC singles play, this time defeating Hiser.
Dahlstrom was able to keep control of the pace of the match, winning the first set 6-4 before grabbing the second 6-3 in an impressive display.
Gailis then clinched the victory for the Gators in her aforementioned victory over Sedlackova.
With the match clinched for Florida, the remaining three singles matches were suspended.
On Court 3, Briggs took the first set over No. 116 Pitak in a tiebreaker 7-6. The second set was even at two games each at the time of finish.
Meanwhile, on Court 5, Lopez had Parkhomenko on the ropes winning the first set 6-3 and leading the second 5-3 when the match concluded.
Also on Court 6, Rowinska was near a finish against Nelson, taking the first 7-5 and leading 5-4 in the second before the match was suspended.
Florida will look for its fourth-straight victory on the road against Arkansas (7-7, 0-4 SEC) Friday at 5 p.m.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
