Wednesday, April 18
Starkville, MS
10:30 AM
Florida Gators
4
vs
0
Vanderbilt
Wednesday, April 18, 2001 | Women's Tennis
The University of Florida captured its 18th regular season SEC women's tennis championship after today's 4-0 victory over sixth-ranked Vanderbilt at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre in Starkville, Miss.
Entering the match the Gators already had clinched at least a three-way tie for the SEC title, but today's win against the Commodores gave Florida the outright championship, finishing the regular season with an 11-0 SEC record and a 19-1 overall mark.
"It was very interesting to watch this team decide that they wanted to win the SEC title outright and not share it," UF head coach Andy Brandi said. "They knew what was on the line in today's match. They played like champions and behaved like champions and now they are champions, outright champions."
Vanderbilt finishes third in the SEC with records of 20-3 overall and 9-2 in the league. Florida has won 17 SEC titles outright and shared the 1990 crown with Georgia.
Florida and Vanderbilt were scheduled to play today's match earlier this month in Gainesville, but weather prevented the match from beginning and forced the two schools to meet prior to the SEC Tournament.
The SEC regular season title is the third for Florida seniors Stephanie Hazlett (Evansville, IN) and Whitney Laiho (Newport, RI).
"We came in here today knowing that we had already clinched at least a tie for the championship, but we wanted it for ourselves," Hazlett said. "We didn't want to share it. We all felt that way and went out there to take it away from them. Nobody played extremely well, but everybody did what they need to do."
"It's a great feeling to win the SEC title," Laiho said. "We've been waiting a long time to play them and couldn't wait. We didn't feel any pressure. We knew it was a big match, but we've been in this position plenty of times. We knew that if we played our game we would be fine."
Sophomore Julia Scaringe (Marietta, GA) was more than fine in her No. 5 singles match against Aleke Tsoubanos, winning 6-4, 6-0 to give the Gators their first singles win of the afternoon.
"There is no tying in tennis," Scaringe said. "We came in here with a lot of confidence. We wanted to win today. That was our goal. We just focused on our goal and got the job done."
Florida captured the doubles point in exactly one hour, after Hazlett and Scaringe clinched the point with an 8-5 win at the No. 2 spot. The Gator's No. 1 pair of Laiho and Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach, FL) improved their season record to 24-0, including a 19-0 mark in dual match play, by opening today's match with a 8-3 win over Julie Ditty and Kate Burson.
Freshman Lindsay Dawaf (Olney, MD) provided the clinching dual match point with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Jenny Miller at the No. 3 position.
Junior Jessica Lehnhoff controlled the No. 2 position, downing Sarah Riske 6-2, 6-1 to give Florida a 3-0 lead in the team scoring.
The singles matches at Nos. 1, 4 and 6 were suspended once Florida secured the dual match victory.
Florida earned the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament, which begins Thursday in Starkville. As one of the top four seeds in the 12-team event, the Gators received a first-round bye and will play the winner of the Alabama- Mississippi match on Friday at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET).
Complete SEC Tournament seedings are as follows: No. 1 Florida; No. 2 Tennessee; No. 3 Vanderbilt; No. 4 Georgia; No. 5 South Carolina; No. 6 Kentucky; No. 7 LSU; No. 8 Alabama; No. 9 Mississippi; No. 10 Mississippi State; No. 11 Arkansas; and No. 12 Auburn.
SEC Women's Tennis
No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Vanderbilt
Starkville, Miss.
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre
Final Score: Florida 4, Vanderbilt 0
Singles
No. 1 Whitney Laiho (11), UF vs. Julie Ditty (21), VU did not finish
No. 2 Jessica Lehnhoff (22), UF d. Sarah Riske (40), VU 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Lindsay Dawaf (73), UF d. Jenny Miller (60), VU 7-5, 6-3*
No. 4 Stephanie Hazlett, UF vs. Kate Burson, VU did not finish
No. 5 Julia Scaringe (90), UF d. Aleke Tsoubanos (86), VU 6-4, 6-0
No. 6 Annika Bengtsson, UF vs. Kelly Schmandt, VU did not finish
Doubles
No. 1 Laiho-Lehnhoff (9), UF d. Burson-Ditty, VU 8-3
No. 2 Hazlett-Scaringe, UF vs. Riske-Schmandt, VU 8-5*
No. 3 Bengtsson-Dawaf, UF vs. Miller-Lauren Rose, VU did not finish
*clinching match
Entering the match the Gators already had clinched at least a three-way tie for the SEC title, but today's win against the Commodores gave Florida the outright championship, finishing the regular season with an 11-0 SEC record and a 19-1 overall mark.
"It was very interesting to watch this team decide that they wanted to win the SEC title outright and not share it," UF head coach Andy Brandi said. "They knew what was on the line in today's match. They played like champions and behaved like champions and now they are champions, outright champions."
Vanderbilt finishes third in the SEC with records of 20-3 overall and 9-2 in the league. Florida has won 17 SEC titles outright and shared the 1990 crown with Georgia.
Florida and Vanderbilt were scheduled to play today's match earlier this month in Gainesville, but weather prevented the match from beginning and forced the two schools to meet prior to the SEC Tournament.
The SEC regular season title is the third for Florida seniors Stephanie Hazlett (Evansville, IN) and Whitney Laiho (Newport, RI).
"We came in here today knowing that we had already clinched at least a tie for the championship, but we wanted it for ourselves," Hazlett said. "We didn't want to share it. We all felt that way and went out there to take it away from them. Nobody played extremely well, but everybody did what they need to do."
"It's a great feeling to win the SEC title," Laiho said. "We've been waiting a long time to play them and couldn't wait. We didn't feel any pressure. We knew it was a big match, but we've been in this position plenty of times. We knew that if we played our game we would be fine."
Sophomore Julia Scaringe (Marietta, GA) was more than fine in her No. 5 singles match against Aleke Tsoubanos, winning 6-4, 6-0 to give the Gators their first singles win of the afternoon.
"There is no tying in tennis," Scaringe said. "We came in here with a lot of confidence. We wanted to win today. That was our goal. We just focused on our goal and got the job done."
Florida captured the doubles point in exactly one hour, after Hazlett and Scaringe clinched the point with an 8-5 win at the No. 2 spot. The Gator's No. 1 pair of Laiho and Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach, FL) improved their season record to 24-0, including a 19-0 mark in dual match play, by opening today's match with a 8-3 win over Julie Ditty and Kate Burson.
Freshman Lindsay Dawaf (Olney, MD) provided the clinching dual match point with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Jenny Miller at the No. 3 position.
Junior Jessica Lehnhoff controlled the No. 2 position, downing Sarah Riske 6-2, 6-1 to give Florida a 3-0 lead in the team scoring.
The singles matches at Nos. 1, 4 and 6 were suspended once Florida secured the dual match victory.
Florida earned the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament, which begins Thursday in Starkville. As one of the top four seeds in the 12-team event, the Gators received a first-round bye and will play the winner of the Alabama- Mississippi match on Friday at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET).
Complete SEC Tournament seedings are as follows: No. 1 Florida; No. 2 Tennessee; No. 3 Vanderbilt; No. 4 Georgia; No. 5 South Carolina; No. 6 Kentucky; No. 7 LSU; No. 8 Alabama; No. 9 Mississippi; No. 10 Mississippi State; No. 11 Arkansas; and No. 12 Auburn.
SEC Women's Tennis
No. 3 Florida vs. No. 6 Vanderbilt
Starkville, Miss.
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre
Final Score: Florida 4, Vanderbilt 0
Singles
No. 1 Whitney Laiho (11), UF vs. Julie Ditty (21), VU did not finish
No. 2 Jessica Lehnhoff (22), UF d. Sarah Riske (40), VU 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Lindsay Dawaf (73), UF d. Jenny Miller (60), VU 7-5, 6-3*
No. 4 Stephanie Hazlett, UF vs. Kate Burson, VU did not finish
No. 5 Julia Scaringe (90), UF d. Aleke Tsoubanos (86), VU 6-4, 6-0
No. 6 Annika Bengtsson, UF vs. Kelly Schmandt, VU did not finish
Doubles
No. 1 Laiho-Lehnhoff (9), UF d. Burson-Ditty, VU 8-3
No. 2 Hazlett-Scaringe, UF vs. Riske-Schmandt, VU 8-5*
No. 3 Bengtsson-Dawaf, UF vs. Miller-Lauren Rose, VU did not finish
*clinching match
Friday, November 06
Friday, November 06
Friday, November 06
Friday, November 06
