Florida Secures an All-Gators Regional Championship Finale. The Gators have found success at the ITA Regional Championships once more with Gailis and De Oliveira dominating in the singles bracket. The two will face one another in the singles championship today at 10 a.m.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida Tennis completed another challenging day of ITA Regional Championship matches with four singles wins. Rachel Gailis and Emily De Oliveira secured two singles wins today, each earning a spot in the regional finals.
The singles quarterfinals were scheduled first today with three Gators competing for the chance to advance into the semifinals. Due to the draw, Florida’s Carly Briggs and Emily De Oliveira went head to head, while Rachel Gailis played Georgia Tech’s Kylie Bilchev.
De Oliveira took the first set against Briggs 6-1, but Briggs fought back, defeating De Oliveira in the second set 6-2, to force a third and final set. The third set went back and forth between the two Gators; both exchanged leads and elongated the rallies, but it was Emily De Oliveira who pulled out with the final victory at 6-4. De Oliveira continued her run in the semifinals later in the afternoon, defeating Carol Lee of Georgia Tech 6-3, 6-1.
On the other side of the draw, Rachel Gailis faced off against Georgia Tech’s Kylie Bilchev. Gailis took the first set 6-1 before Bilchev increased the pressure going into the second, testing Gailis on the baseline. The second set was a closer contest but Gailis still managed to pull ahead winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, ensuring her place in the semifinals. For her second match of the day Gailis faced Anastasiia Lopata from Georgia. Gailis came out eager to get an early lead, taking the first set 6-3. The second set mirrored the first, with Gailis pulling ahead 6-4.
With Gailis and De Oliveira going undefeated over the last few days in the singles bracket, they are forced to face off against one another in the ITA Regional Championships on Monday. The two will play for the Regional Championship in an all-Gators matchup at 10 a.m.
In the doubles draw, Qavia Lopez and Malwina Rowinska were holding it down for the Gators making it to the semifinals where they met Xinyi Nong and Isabella Pfennig from Miami. The doubles semifinal format was best of two sets with a ten-point tiebreaker. Lopez and Rowinska put up a large fight against the Hurricanes, after losing the first set 4-6 the duo bounced back grabbing the second set 6-0. The split in sets led to a ten-point match tiebreaker where the Gators ultimately fell 8-10.
Singles competition
qf Emily de Oliveira (Florida) def. Carly Briggs (Florida) 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 qf Rachel Gailis (Florida) def. Kylie Bilchev (GEORGIA TECH) 6-1, 6-4 sf Emily de Oliveira (Florida) def. Carol Lee (GEORGIA TECH) 6-3, 6-1 sf Rachel Gailis (Florida) def. Anastasiia Lopata (GEORGIA) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
sf Xinyi Nong/Isabella Pfennig (MIAMI) def. Malwina Rowinska/Qavia Lopez 6-4, 0-6, 10-8
Monday will mark the last day of matches for the ITA Regional Championship. Both the singles and doubles finals will take place at 10 a.m. followed by the consolation singles final at 1 p.m. timing is subject to change but all updates can be found on the ITA website.
(Special to 1st & Ten Florida by Florida Athletics)
