The fourth-seeded University of Florida women's tennis team advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship after Saturday's solid 4-0 victory over Bethune-Cookman College at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. The Gators (21-2) face Arkansas on Sunday at 12 Noon, ET, for the right to advance to the Round of 16 played in Stone Mountain, Ga., on Thursday.
"We did a really good job. We hadn't played in a while and we talked about that before the match," Florida coach Andy Brandi said. "We knew this wasn't going to be pretty or the best match, but we didn't want to play our best match today, we want to play that next Sunday. We want to gradually improve and get better. We did a good job of focusing and dictating the flow of every match."
Florida needed just 23 minutes to win its first match of the day, as the No. 3 doubles team of freshmen Annika Bengtsson and Lindsay Dawaf blanked Kara Sayle and Monika Spackova 8-0. The Gator's No. 1 duo of Whitney Laiho and Jessica Lehnhoff then secured the doubles point with an 8-3 victory over Klara Miklikova and Marta Kostrhounova. The win extended the Gator duo's record to 26-0 this season.
The Gators overpowered the visiting Wildcats at every singles position, as Florida dropped a combined total of eight games in the six matches, however three of the matches were not completed once the dual match was clinched.
Lehnhoff provided the clinching match point for Florida with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Martina Tekalova at the No. 2 position.
"This match wasn't easy at all," Lehnhoff said. "We went out there like it was any other match. If it was a little easier, it was because we prepared for them the same way we prepare for every match. We didn't underestimate them and we're glad we won today."
Minutes before Lehnhoff's clinching victory, senior Stephanie Hazlett defeated Natalia Kostova 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 to win the 100th singles match of her career. She is the 15th Gator to log 100 singles victories.
"Finally! It feels like a month ago when someone told me that I had 95 wins," Hazlett said of the milestone victory. "I'm glad I got it done today and I'm glad I got it done here at home. It was a lot of fun to do it in front of the home crowd, especially since this was one of the last times I will ever play here."
Florida freshman Annika Bengtsson had a short day at the office, as her No. 6 singles match lasted just two minutes before Monika Spackova defaulted with a shoulder injury. Bengtsson lost one point en route to winning the first game before Spackova withdrew. Spackova, playing in her first-ever collegiate tennis match, joined the team as a walk-on and her services were need to play since all teams competing in the NCAA Championship are required to have a minimum of six players.
"Like every team in the NCAA Championship, you compete to win," Assistant Athletics Director and acting head coach Tony O'Neal said. "Florida is very good, very powerful, very strong team and today just wasn't our day. I thought our girls played hard. It's been a tough season for them, but they are champions. They won their conference championship three years in a row. Just for them to be out there today and compete against the best is a situation that a lot of teams and individuals wished they had. I'm happy for our young ladies."
In the first match, Arkansas (10-12) defeated Miami 4-1 to improve to 4-1 all-time in NCAA first round matches. The Lady Razorbacks opened the match winning the doubles point after sweeping all three positions. In singles action, the Hurricanes jumped out to leads on five of the courts, but couldn't hold those advantages en route to the victory.
"I think playing in the SEC and facing tough players every match definitely helped us because you're used to playing under pressure," Arkansas coach Kevin Platt said. "Being down 40-0 or 40-15 in a match isn't that big of a deal to us. This year we were on the short end of a lot of those matches to good teams. Miami is a good team and I was very pleased with our effort."
"In all of the matches we had some key games where we were up 40-0 and 40-15 and the girls played too loose," Miami coach Paige Yaroshuk said. "When you're playing a team like Arkansas that is going to compete hard, you can't afford to play loose."
Miami (15-9) took the court without freshman Bettina Hafner, who plays the No. 1 singles position for the team.
"Obviously, when you lose your no. 1 player, it's a bit of a factor, but I still think we had a team out there today that was a solid team and one capable of pulling off a victory," said Yaroshuk of Hafner's absence.
NCAA Women's Tennis Championship
First Round
Gainesville, Fla.
Arkansas 4, Miami 1
[4] Florida 4, Bethune-Cookman 0
Arkansas 4, Miami 1
Singles
No. 1 Chin Bee Khoo (16), AR d. Alanna Broderick, UM 6-2, 6-1
No. 2 Brenda Vlasak, AR vs. Katia Bogomolova, UM suspended
No. 3 Marcy Hora, UM d. Julia Boyadjieva, AR 6-4, 6-3
No. 4 Adriana Lopez, AR vs. Sihem Bennacer, UM suspended
No. 5 Tara Reid, AR d. Lauren Scaglione, UM 2-6, 6-1, 6-1*
No. 6 Megan Ferreria, AR d. Igna deVilliers, UM 6-1, 2-6, 7-5
Doubles
No. 1 Chin Bee Khoo/Brenda Vlasak (36), AR d. Alanna Broderick/Katia Bogomolova, UM 8-5
No. 2 Megan Ferreria/ Tara Reid, AR d. Marcy Hora/ Igna deVilliers, UM 8-5*
No. 3 Julia Boyadjieva/ Adriana Lopez, AR d. Sihem Bennacer/ Lauren Scaglione, UM 8-4
[4] Florida 4, Bethune-Cookman 0
Singles
No. 1 Whitney Laiho (7), UF vs. Klara Miklikova, BCC 6-2, 2-0 suspended
No. 2 Jessica Lehnhoff (13), UF d. Martina Tekalova, BCC 6-1, 6-1*
No. 3 Lindsay Dawaf (46), UF vs. Marta Kostrhounova, BCC 6-0, 5-1 suspended
No. 4 Stephanie Hazlett, UF d. Natalia Kostova, BCC 6-1, 6-0
No. 5 Julia Scaringe (81), UF vs. Kara Sayle, BCC 6-1, 4-1 suspended
No. 6 Annika Bengtsson, UF d. Monika Spackova, BCC 1-0 (injury)
Doubles
No. 1 Whitney Laiho/ Jessica Lehnhoff (4), UF d. Klara Miklikova/ Marta Kostrhounova, BCC 8-3*
No. 2 Stephanie Hazlett/ Julia Scaringe, UF vs. Martina Tekalova/ Natalia Kostova, BCC 7-2 suspended
No. 3 Annika Bengtsson/ Lindsay Dawaf, UF d. Kara Sayle/ Monika Spackova, BCC 8-0
*clinched dual match
END OF REPORT
