Florida Gators
Kentucky
#6 Women's Tennis Rolls Past #11 Kentucky, 5-2
Saturday, March 16, 2002 | Women's Tennis
"I think Jessica [Lehnhoff] played her best match of the year. She played incredibly well," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Alexis [Gordon] had a great turn around from doubles. Her forehand was the most dominant shot on the court today. And Julia [Scaringe], was the second fastest off the court coming back from her inuury. That is a huge boost for the team."
UF's No. 3 doubles team of Zerene Reyes (Mexico City, Mexico) and Annika Bengtsson (Helsingborg, Sweden) defeated Kentucky's Amy Trefethen and Jill Buckley in a grueling two hour and 33 minute match to clinch the doubles point for the Gators. As the two teams dueled from the base lines and rarely ventured forward, the match consisted of long rallies between the two teams, lasting up to five minutes each. With the Gators on top seven games to six, the Wildcats were down 40-love and saved three match points against the Gators but eventually fell when UF converted on its fourth match point. The nationally ranked No. 9 doubles pair of Lindsay Dawaf (Olney, Md.) and Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach, Fla.) upset the fourth-ranked Wildcats, Carolina Mayorga and Sarah Witten, 8-4 at No. 1. The Wildcats No. 2 doubles team of Lauren Rookledge and Leigh Bradwell were the first pair to finish their match by defeating Alexis Gordon (Windsor, Conn.) and Julia Scaringe (Marietta, Ga.), 8-4.
"Kentucky started play real ugly (at No. 3), and they realized down 5-2 that the best way to win was to play incredibly conservatively," Thornqvist said. "We haven't seen that style before, but I was glad to see that we overcame it, even though it took two and a half hours."
Singles play began on courts No. 1, No. 2 and No. 6 fifteen minutes after the doubles play. The other courts were delayed due to a 20-minute rest provided to the players at the No. 3 doubles position after their lengthy match.
Lehnhoff gave UF a 2-0 lead when she needed just 56 minutes to defeat Mayorga of Kentucky at No. 1 singles, 6-1, 6-2. Florida's No. 6 player, Scaringe held serve at 4-4 in the second set and broke serve to win her match, 6-1, 6-4, bringing the Gator lead to 3-0. The Gators clinched the match at No. 4 where Gordon only dropped two games to defeat Trefethen 6-0, 6-2.
After securing the overall team win, Dawaf and Bengtsson retired from their singles matches due to nagging injuries, narrowing the score to 4-2 Florida. In the final match, Reyes defeated Rookledge in third set 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 to account for the 5-2 final score. Combining her singles and doubles matches, Reyes played over five hours of tennis on Friday night.
The Gators return to action on Sunday when they will face their toughest challenge of the season thus far as the No. 2 Vanderbilt Commodores come to Gainesville for a 1:00 pm match.
Doubles
1-Lindsay Dawaf/Jessica Lehnhoff (9), UF d. Carolina Mayorga/Sarah Witten (4), UK 8-4
2- Lauren Rookledge/Leigh Bradwell, UK d Alexis Gordon/Julia Scaringe, UF 8-4
*3-Annika Bengtsson/Zerene Reyes, UF d. Amy Trefethen/Jill Buckley, UK 8-6
Singles
1-Jessica Lehnhoff (2), UF d. Carolina Mayorga (26), UK 6-1, 6-2
2- Sarah Witten (41), UK d. Lindsay Dawaf (29), UF 6-4, 3-3 (retired)
3-Zerene Reyes, UF d. Lauren Rookledge (97), UK 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
*4-Alexis Gordon (76), UF d. Amy Trefethen, UK 6-0, 6-2
5- Jill Buckley, UK d. Annika Bengtsson, UF 6-2, 3-0 (retired)
6-Julia Scaringe, UF d. Leigh Bradwell, UK 6-1, 6-4
