Saturday, February 24
Gainesville, FL
11:30 AM
Florida Gators
6
vs
1
SOUTH CAROLINA
Saturday, February 24, 2001 | Women's Tennis
The fourth-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team won its 101st consecutive home match against Southeastern Conference opponents with today's 6-1 victory over No. 19 South Carolina. The Gators improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in SEC play, while the Gamecocks fell to 4-1 overall, 0-1 in SEC action.
Florida opened the match by winning all three doubles matches and capturing the doubles point after the Gator's No. 1 team of Whitney Laiho (Newport, RI) and Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach, FL) topped Katherine Boyanovich and Jennifer Radman 8-6 to secure the match's opening point. The doubles losses were the first of the year for the Gamecocks in dual match play.
"We're soft right now and we need to be able to compete better, adapt better and take better advantage of opportunities," UF head coach Andy Brandi said. "I thought South Carolina competed well, but we game away too many opportunities in singles and in doubles."
A 27-minute rain-delay interrupted early singles action in the matches. Play resumed and the Gators returned to the court a bit sluggish, allowing the Gamecocks to earn service breaks on several courts. However, Florida battled back and won five of the six singles matches in straight sets.
The only positions Florida didn't seem to struggle were on courts No. 1 and No. 6, where Laiho cruised past 55th-ranked Katarina Markovski 6-0, 6-1 at the top spot and Gator freshman Annika Bengtsson (Sweden) controlled Leigh Eichelberger 6-3, 6-1.
"Whitney has really played will since coming back from her injury," Brandi said. "She's a much improved player this spring, more so than she has ever been. She's playing tennis at another other level, especially in singles."
Bengtsson improved her dual match singles record to 4-0 with her fourth consecutive straight-set victory. Fellow freshman Lindsay Dawaf (Olney, MD) also kept her singles dual match record perfect with a 6-4, 6-3 victory at the No. 3 position over Katherine Boyanovich.
At the No. 2 spot, junior Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach, FL) found herself trailing 4-2 in the first set before rallying to the 7-5, 6-3 win against Jennifer Radman.
Julia Scaringe (Marietta, GA) traded services breaks with Tamara Sutton throughout most of the first set, but the Gator sophomore dominated the tiebreak en route to a 7-6 (1), 6-2 victory at No. 5.
The lone Gator loss on the day came at the No. 4 position, where senior Stephanie Hazlett (Evansville, IN) committed countless unforced errors, including two with set-point in the second, falling to Lynn-Yin Tan 6-1, 7-6 (3).
Florida has a week break before its next competition, when the Gators travel to Baton Rouge to face LSU on Sunday, March 4.
NCAA Women's Tennis
No. 4 Florida vs. No. 19 South Carolina
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, FL
Final Score: Florida 6, South Carolina 1
Doubles
No. 1 Whitney Laiho/Jessica Lehnhoff, UF d. Katherine Boyanovich/Jennifer Radman, USC 8-6
No. 2 Stephanie Hazlett/Julia Scaringe, UF d. Leigh Eichelberger/Lynn-Yin Tan, USC 8-5
No. 3 Annika Bengtsson/Lindsay Dawaf, UF d. Catherine Brown/Katarina Markovski, USC 8-6
Singles
No. 1 Whitney Laiho (33), UF d. Katarina Markovski (55), USC 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 Jessica Lehnhoff (21), UF d. Jennifer Radman, USC 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 Lindsay Dawaf (46), UF d. Katherine Boyanovich, USC 6-4, 6-3*
No. 4 Lynn-Yin Tan, USC d. Stephanie Hazlett, UF 6-1, 7-6 (3)
No. 5 Julia Scaringe (52), UF d. Tamara Sutton, USC 7-6 (1), 6-2
No. 6 Annika Bengtsson, UF d. Leigh Eichelberger, USC 6-3, 6-1
*Clinched dual match
Florida opened the match by winning all three doubles matches and capturing the doubles point after the Gator's No. 1 team of Whitney Laiho (Newport, RI) and Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach, FL) topped Katherine Boyanovich and Jennifer Radman 8-6 to secure the match's opening point. The doubles losses were the first of the year for the Gamecocks in dual match play.
"We're soft right now and we need to be able to compete better, adapt better and take better advantage of opportunities," UF head coach Andy Brandi said. "I thought South Carolina competed well, but we game away too many opportunities in singles and in doubles."
A 27-minute rain-delay interrupted early singles action in the matches. Play resumed and the Gators returned to the court a bit sluggish, allowing the Gamecocks to earn service breaks on several courts. However, Florida battled back and won five of the six singles matches in straight sets.
The only positions Florida didn't seem to struggle were on courts No. 1 and No. 6, where Laiho cruised past 55th-ranked Katarina Markovski 6-0, 6-1 at the top spot and Gator freshman Annika Bengtsson (Sweden) controlled Leigh Eichelberger 6-3, 6-1.
"Whitney has really played will since coming back from her injury," Brandi said. "She's a much improved player this spring, more so than she has ever been. She's playing tennis at another other level, especially in singles."
Bengtsson improved her dual match singles record to 4-0 with her fourth consecutive straight-set victory. Fellow freshman Lindsay Dawaf (Olney, MD) also kept her singles dual match record perfect with a 6-4, 6-3 victory at the No. 3 position over Katherine Boyanovich.
At the No. 2 spot, junior Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach, FL) found herself trailing 4-2 in the first set before rallying to the 7-5, 6-3 win against Jennifer Radman.
Julia Scaringe (Marietta, GA) traded services breaks with Tamara Sutton throughout most of the first set, but the Gator sophomore dominated the tiebreak en route to a 7-6 (1), 6-2 victory at No. 5.
The lone Gator loss on the day came at the No. 4 position, where senior Stephanie Hazlett (Evansville, IN) committed countless unforced errors, including two with set-point in the second, falling to Lynn-Yin Tan 6-1, 7-6 (3).
Florida has a week break before its next competition, when the Gators travel to Baton Rouge to face LSU on Sunday, March 4.
NCAA Women's Tennis
No. 4 Florida vs. No. 19 South Carolina
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, FL
Final Score: Florida 6, South Carolina 1
Doubles
No. 1 Whitney Laiho/Jessica Lehnhoff, UF d. Katherine Boyanovich/Jennifer Radman, USC 8-6
No. 2 Stephanie Hazlett/Julia Scaringe, UF d. Leigh Eichelberger/Lynn-Yin Tan, USC 8-5
No. 3 Annika Bengtsson/Lindsay Dawaf, UF d. Catherine Brown/Katarina Markovski, USC 8-6
Singles
No. 1 Whitney Laiho (33), UF d. Katarina Markovski (55), USC 6-0, 6-1
No. 2 Jessica Lehnhoff (21), UF d. Jennifer Radman, USC 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 Lindsay Dawaf (46), UF d. Katherine Boyanovich, USC 6-4, 6-3*
No. 4 Lynn-Yin Tan, USC d. Stephanie Hazlett, UF 6-1, 7-6 (3)
No. 5 Julia Scaringe (52), UF d. Tamara Sutton, USC 7-6 (1), 6-2
No. 6 Annika Bengtsson, UF d. Leigh Eichelberger, USC 6-3, 6-1
*Clinched dual match
Thursday, November 05
Wednesday, November 04
Wednesday, November 04
Tuesday, November 03
