OXFORD, Miss. – No. 21 Ole Miss (8-6, 4-4 SEC) was defeated 4-1 by No. 24 Florida (8-6, 6-3 SEC) on Thursday evening.

 

The match between the Rebels and Gators began outdoors at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center. At Palmer/Salloum, Ole Miss dropped the opening doubles point to Florida. Florida won doubles 2-0, earning victories at No. 2 and No. 3 Doubles. No. 59 Alexa Bortles and Sabina Machalova had their match go unfinished down 5-3 to No. 2 McCartney Kessler and Marlee Zein.

 

The match was relocated indoors after ten minutes of singles action due to rain. The remainder of the match was played at the William F. Galtney Tennis Center. In singles, the Rebels won one match over the Gators, surrendered three matches and had two go unfinished.

 

No. 1 Singles was the first match to conclude. No. 11 Kessler defeated No. 16 Machalova in straight sets. Florida took a 2-0 overall lead.

Reka Zadori brought the Rebels back to within one decision point by earning a straight set victory on Court No. 5. Zadori won her first career match versus a ranked opponent by defeating No. 113 Sara Dahlstrom 6-2, 6-2. Both Zadori and Dahlstrom have earned SEC Freshman of the Week honors this season. Zadori improved to 4-3 in dual singles matches in 2021.

 

Ole Miss lost the next two matches at No. 2 and No. 6 Singles to come up short on Thursday. No. 40 Tiphanie Fiquet fell in straight sets to No. 47 Zein, and Lillian Gabrielsen lost in three sets to Sydney Berlin. Berlin clinched the match, 4-1, for Florida.

 

Tereza Janatova and Anna Vrbenska’s matches at No. 3 and No. 4 Singles went unfinished. Janatova trailed 3-2 in the third set and Vrbenska trailed 5-4 (down one set) when the match was stopped.

 

Coming Up

 

The Rebels host the No. 39 South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday at 1 p.m. CT.

 

Singles Results

 

No. 11 McCartney Kessler (UF) def. No. 16 Sabina Machalova, 6-2, 6-0

No. 47 Marlee Zein (UF) def. No. 40 Tiphanie Fiquet, 6-4, 6-3

Ida Jarlskog (UF) vs. No. 80 Tereza Janatova, 6-2, 1-6, 3-2 (unfinished)

No. 120 Layne Sleeth (UF) vs. Anna Vrbenska, 6-1, 5-4 (unfinished)

Reka Zadori def. No. 113 Sara Dahlstrom (UF), 6-2, 6-2

Sydney Berlin (UF) def. Lillian Gabrielsen, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1

 

Doubles Results

 

No. 2 McCartney Kessler/Marlee Zein (UF) vs. No. 59 Alexa Bortles/Sabina Machalova, 5-3 (unfinished)

Ida Jarlskog/Layne Sleeth (UF) def. Tereza Janatova/Anna Vrbenska, 6-3

Sydney Berlin/Sarah Dahlstrom (UF) def. Lillian Gabrielsen/Kelsey Mize, 7-5

 

For more information on Ole Miss Women’s Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissWTennis, on Facebook at OleMissWTennis and on Instagram at OleMissWTennis. Also follow Coach Beyers on Twitter, @MarkBeyers.