Florida Gators

ATHENS, Ga. – The third-seeded Florida women's tennis team is set to open the 2024 Southeastern Conference Tournament on Friday morning against the No. 19 Gamecocks.
 
The Gators finished the 2024 season with an overall record of 15-7 and posted an impressive 11-2 record in SEC play. Nine of Florida's 15 wins this season were against top-100 teams with a season best over No. 13 Auburn, defeating the Tigers 4-1. Florida's success in regular season play earned them the No. 3 seed in the tournament and advancing them to the quarterfinals with a double bye.
 
TEAM RECORDS
Florida: (15-7, 11-2 SEC)
South Carolina: (17-6, 8-5 SEC)
 
GATORS HISTORY AT SEC TOURNAMENT
Historically, Florida has been a strong contender at the SEC Tournament. The Gators boast a 79-14 mark at the tournament, including an impressive 32-2 mark in the quarterfinal round. When advancing to the semifinal round, Florida holds a 27-5 mark and in the 27 tournament championship appearances, UF is 20-7. Overall, Florida has made the semifinals or better 32 times.
 
FLORIDA SUCCESS
On the doubles side undefeated pair No. 50 Alicia Dudeney and Malwina Rowinksa have posted a 5-0 record. The duo is 3-0 against nationally ranked doubles teams and are ranked No. 50 themselves.
 
Carly Briggs and Qavia Lopez is another fierce duo that produces for the Gators. Briggs and Lopez are 6-2 overall and 6-1 in conference action. Rachel Gailis and Bente Spee round out the double's pairs for the Gators with a 5-1 overall and regular season record. The duo is currently on a four-match win streak.
 
In singles action, No. 8 Rachel Gailis has put up impressive numbers this season. Gailis (20-5, 9-2) has faced nine nationally ranked opponents, defeating six of them. Gailis also posted her biggest win of her career defeating South Carolina's then ranked No. 7 Ayana Akli 6-2, 6-4.
 
Freshman powerhouse No. 111 Qavia Lopez is another standout for the Orange and Blue. Lopez was recently named the SEC Freshman of the Week for the third time with an overall record of 22-9, going 10-2 in SEC play.
 
No. 68 Carly Briggs has been vital for the Gators during conference action posting an 8-2 record. Briggs will enter the SEC tournament on a six-match win streak and be coming off a 6-0, 6-0 victory over South Carolina's Shahar Biran.
 
LAST TIME OUT VS. SOUTH CAROLINA
Florida's last match of the regular season was against South Carolina on Saturday, Apr. 13, with Florida pulling out a 4-2 victory on its home courts. The Gators victory over the Gamecocks secured the team's third place seeding for SEC's and boasted their conference record to 11-2. 
 
In their last meeting, Florida took the doubles point early with victories on courts two and three. Carly Briggs and Qavia Lopez defeated South Carolina's Shahar Biran and Elise Mills 6-2 for the first doubles win of the competition. Rachel Gailis and Bente Spee followed with a 6-2 win over Olympe Lancelot and Misa Malkin to secure the advantage going into singles.
 
Florida's singles points came from Carly Briggs, Rachel Gailis and Qavia Lopez to secure the 4-2 win over the Gamecocks. Briggs was the first to finish with a 6-0, 6-0 performance over Shahar Biran. Rachel Gailis followed defeating Ayana Akli 6-2, 6-4, and Qavia Lopez closed out in a thriller against Misa Malkin. Lopez came out on top with a final score of 6-7 (5-7), 6-2, 7-6 (7-5).
 
Since Florida last faced off against the Gamecocks, South Carolina has made edits to its lineup with Sarah Hamner now playing No. 1 singles and Olympe Lancelot playing at No. 5.
 
ITA RANKINGS
Florida finds itself ranked No. 14 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. Four Gators are ranked in singles competition: Rachel Gailis at No. 8, Sara Dahlstrom at No. 71,  Carly Briggs at No. 68, and Qavia Lopez ranks at No. 111. Doubles pair Malwina Rowinska and Alicia Dudeney have also been slated into the ITA ranking at No. 50.
 
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