It has been an up-and-down singles season for Florida freshman Malwina Rowinska.
The doubles specialist was thrust into the No. 6 singles slot in the Gators lineup as SEC play began, and she experienced some growing pains.
However, it seems Rowinska has now found her footing.
She cruised to her most dominant win of the season on Friday, as Rowinska swept Arkansas junior Grace O’Donnell 6-0, 6-1.
Rowinska was firing on all cylinders, showcasing her raw power and aggression, both of which left O’Donnell with no answers.
Her victory earned the No. 12 Gators (9-7, 5-2 SEC) their second point of the day in what ended up being a 6-1 victory, over the No. 51 Arkansas Razorbacks (8-8, 1-5 SEC).
It was Florida’s fourth-straight win, all of which came in conference play.
UF came out hot in doubles play, as graduate student Carly Briggs and freshman Qavia Lopez scored their third-straight victory as a pair.
Briggs and Lopez didn’t need much time on Court 2 to defeat Arkansas’ pair of senior Lenka Stara and O’Donnell, winning 6-1.
Meanwhile, the remaining doubles matches on Courts 1 and 3 were extremely competitive.
However, the Gators ultimately scored the doubles point on Court 1, where junior Alicia Dudeney and Rowinska earned their biggest win as a pairing so far.
The pairing defeated the No. 36 pair in the country, Arkansas’ team of senior Morgan Cross and sophomore Anet Koskel 7-5.
Singles play was much of the same story for the Gators, who were all-over the Razorbacks.
Rowinska earned Florida’s second point of the day in the aforementioned match on Court 6.
Meanwhile, No. 84 Briggs was impressive as she faced off with Arkansas’ Cross on Court 3.
Briggs took the first set 6-3, and then scored a 6-0 shutout in the second to move Florida just one win away from the overall match victory.
That win came on Court 1, where No. 15 Gailis once again dispatched a ranked opponent, this time beating Arkansas’ No. 31 sophomore Carolina Gomez Alonso 6-4, 6-1.
It was Gailis’ fifth-straight win, as she improved to 6-1 in SEC singles play this season.
Despite Florida already clinching the overall match victory, the two sides agreed to continue playing the remaining three singles matches.
Florida’s No. 109 Lopez earned yet another point for UF, as she was victorious in her Court 5 match against Arkansas graduate student Kacey Harvey.
The freshman improved to 5-1 in SEC singles play this season with the 6-1, 7-5 win, while also racking up her first victory as a ranked singles player.
The remaining two matches on Courts 2 and 4 respectively went to third-set tiebreakers, as the Razorbacks scored first-set wins on both courts before the Gators took the second-sets.
On Court 4, Florida earned their sixth and final point of the day as Dudeney edged out a win over Arkansas’ Stara.
Stara took the first set 6-4, before Dudeney grabbed the second set 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Dudeney prevailed 10-6 to score the match in her favor.
Arkansas lone point came on Court 2, where graduate student Kelly Keller outlasted Florida’s No. 52 junior Sara Dahlstrom.
Keller grabbed the first set 6-2, before Dahlstrom won the second set 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Keller was the better woman, winning 10-7.
The loss was Dahlstrom’s first in SEC singles play this season, dropping her to 4-1.
Only one match did not have the chance to conclude, which was on Court 3 in doubles play.
The match between UF’s pair of junior Bente Spee and Gailis and Arkansas’ team of Gomez Alonso and Keller did not have a chance to finish, but the two sides were in the midst of a tiebreaker.
Florida will look to make its fifth-straight victory as they head to play Missouri Saturday at 11 a.m.
Contact Max Bernstein at mbernstein@alligator.org. Follow him on X @maxbernstein23.
