The No. 9 Florida men’s tennis team started strong Friday against Mississippi State but could not finish in singles play, resulting in a loss to the Bulldogs 5-2.
The weather in Gainesville coming into Sunday’s Tennessee-Florida men’s tennis matchup was a brisk 70 degrees with a calm wind and blue skies. But the weather wasn’t the coolest part of the match.
Senior Anna Danilina, the No. 9 collegiate tennis player in the world, had lost her last three singles matches. In Saturday’s meet against Mississippi State at the A.J Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, she was determined to bring her losing streak to a close.
Freshman Oliver Crawford wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a deep breath before his serve. The crowd chanted, coaches shouted orders and teammates clamored with words of encouragement.
After a month of indoor play, the Florida men's tennis team is ready to get back outside and welcome No. 17 Georgia and No. 25 Tennessee to Gainesville. The Gators and Bulldogs will continue their annual rivalry today at 6 p.m. at the Ring Tennis Complex. Tennessee will follow on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Peggy Porter had been here before.
With a 5-4 record, three true freshmen and the pressure of defending their NCAA championship from last season, the Gators women’s tennis team still has a lot to prove.
The current state of the SEC’s race for the top-four seeds in the conference tournament, which runs from March 7 to 11, is wide open.
Last year, Stanford was defeated by Florida in the NCAA championship match. This year, it hoped to get its revenge.
Florida hadn’t won a meet in which it dropped the doubles point all season. Against Saint Mary’s (4-5), the pairing of senior Josie Kuhlman and freshman McCartney Kessler lost the deciding set in the doubles point, setting up the expectation of UF’s demise.
When the Gators entered the 2018 spring season just eight months removed from winning a national championship, they were the third-ranked team in the nation.
After freshman Duarte Vale and junior McClain Kessler won their doubles match Sunday, they looked across the courts to the other doubles team still in play.
Before Saturday’s match against No. 22 Notre Dame (7-2), losing the doubles point usually signaled defeat for the Florida men’s tennis team.
For the second time in three matches, freshman Duarte Vale and junior McClain Kessler played from behind with the doubles point on the line. Unlike their comeback win against No. 11 Michigan on Feb. 9 – in which Vale and Kessler saved two match points – the pair lost 7-5 on Friday as No. 6 Texas A&M swept the No. 11 Florida men’s tennis team 4-0 in the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships in Seattle.
The Seattle Tennis Club sits on the rocky shores of Lake Washington with a distant view of Mount Rainier. The choppy, blue waters and the snow-topped mountain will serve as the backdrop to this weekend’s ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
At this time last year, the Florida women’s tennis team remained undefeated at 7-0 after winning the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
The loudest voices on the courts of the Ring Tennis Complex prefer quiet before a match.
Nothing about the red and gray courts at Ohio State’s Varsity Indoor Tennis Center resembled home for Florida’s men’s tennis team. Losing the first four points of a dual match was just as strange to the No. 11 program in the nation.
In the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Friday, Florida’s women’s tennis team defeated Wisconsin in a 5-0 blowout. During the second round of the tournament against Vanderbilt on Saturday, the Gators were on the other end of a shutout.
On Wednesday, Florida women’s tennis player Josie Kuhlman lost the final set in UF’s match against Oklahoma State, clinching the Cowgirls’ victory. At the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Friday, she was an integral part of the Gators’ dominant sweep over Wisconsin.
Solutions by The State News
