W-Tennis defeats Alabama in SEC Tournament QF, 4-0

Friday, April 20

Starkville, MS

3:00 PM

Florida Gators

Alabama (SEC Tournament QF)

W-Tennis defeats Alabama in SEC Tournament QF, 4-0

Saturday, April 21, 2001 | Women's Tennis

The top-seeded and sixth-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team used its depth to shutout eighth-seeded Alabama 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament this afternoon at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.

Florida (20-1) opened the match capturing the doubles point with identical 8-4 wins at Nos. 2 and 3 and then road to victory with singles wins at Nos. 4, 5 and 6 to advance to Saturday's semifinal. The Gators meet No. 4-seed Georgia on Saturday at 2 p.m. CT (3 p.m. ET). Third-ranked Vanderbilt and fourth-ranked Tennessee, seeded No. 3 and No. 2 respectively, meet in the other semifinal match on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. CT (12 Noon, ET).

Alabama (14-9) was making its first appearance in the SEC Quarterfinals for the first time since 1994.

Despite the sweep over the Crimson Tide, Florida head coach Andy Brandi was not pleased with his team's performance.

"Our demeanor was not right," Brandi said. "Our objective in this match was much different than it showed. This was one of the worst matches we have played all year. We need to take the initiative of dictating and controlling what is happing on the court. We let our opponent do that today."

Senior Stephanie Hazlett (Evansville, IN) might have been an exception, posting a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Weyli Chang at the No. 4 position. The win was the 99th of Hazlett's career and snapped a three- match skid.

"I match up well against her," Hazlett said. "I knew if I stuck to my game plan I would have the advantage. This is the first match I've finished or won in a long time so it felt good. I needed this win today."

Freshman Annika Bengtsson (Helsingborg, Sweden) gave Florida its second singles victory of the dual match, as she topped Becca Baum 6-2, 6- 2 at the No. 6 spot.

"I felt pretty good today," Bengtsson said. "My opponent was a fighter out there, but I won the important points."

Sophomore Julia Scaringe (Marietta, GA) provided the clinching dual match win with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Dominique Glinzler at No. 5.

"The first set started out a little shaky for me because the wind was so strong and it made things tough," Scaringe said. "But in the second set I got on a roll and I think my opponent got down. I just concentrated on my foot work more because the ball kept shifting in the wind."

Senior Whitney Laiho (Newport, RI) was close to winning the 99th singles match of her career, leading Emmanuelle Berard 6-4, 5-3 and serving at 40-15 when the match was suspended because Scaringe had clinched the team victory.

Also on court when the match was clinched was junior Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach, FL), who had just won the first set of her No. 2 singles match 7-6 (4) against Selia Mathew. Freshman Lindsay Dawaf (Olney, MD) was close to splitting sets on court No. 3 against Jenny Ketchum.

SEC Women's Tennis Tournament
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, Starkville, Miss.
Friday, April 20, 2001

Quarterfinals - Team Results
#3-Seed Vanderbilt d. #6-Seed Kentucky 4-3
#2-Seed Tennessee d. #10-Seed Mississippi State 4-0
#1-Seed Florida d. #8-Seed Alabama 4-0
#4-Seed Georgia d. #5-Seed South Carolina 4-1 Individual UF Results
Doubles
No. 1 Whitney Laiho/Jessica Lehnhoff (9), UF vs. Emmanuelle Berard/Dominique Glinzler (32), AL suspended
No. 2 Stephanie Hazlett/Julia Scaringe (48), UF d. Becca Baum/Jenny Ketchum, AL 8-4*
No. 3 Annika Bengtsson/Lindsay Dawaf, UF d. Weyli Chang/Selia Mathew, AL 8- 4

Singles
No. 1 Whitney Laiho (9), UF vs. Emmanuelle Berard (43), AL 6-4, 5-3 suspended
No. 2 Jessica Lehnhoff (15), UF vs. Selia Mathew (96), AL 7-6 (4) suspended
No. 3 Lindsay Dawaf (59), UF vs. Jenny Ketchum, AL 4-6, 5-3 suspended
No. 4 Stephanie Hazlett, UF d. Weyli Chang, AL 6-0, 6-0
No. 5 Julia Scaringe (77), UF d. Dominique Glinzler, AL 6-3, 6-2*
No. 6 Annika Bengtsson, UF d. Becca Baum, AL 6-2, 6-2
*clinched match