Two of the top women's tennis teams in the nation battled to the very end on Friday evening with third-ranked Florida (11-0) coming out on the winning end of a 4-3 decision over seventh-ranked Duke (11-3) in the Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center in Durham, N.C.
"I'm so proud of this team," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Every match this team has played in the last two weeks has been tight and someone different has stepped up to clinch the match for us. Today is was another freshman, Zerene Reyes, who won in the third set after Duke had saved seven match points. I'm tremendously proud of this group and how everyone fights when things are tough. They somehow find a way to dig deeper and win. That almost means more than just winning on pure talent."
Florida got things rolling early as the Gators took a 1-0 lead with victories at the top two doubles positions. UF's Alexis Gordon and Julia Scaringe downed Julie DeRoo and Amanda Johnson 8-4 at the No. 2 spot, but the other two positions were hard fought 9-8 decisions. At the No. 1 position, Florida's second-ranked tandem of Jessica Lehnhoff and Lindsay Dawaf came back from a 7-6 deficit and two break points before winning 9-8 over Kelly McCain and Hillary Adams. It was a match that saw Duke down 4-1 and then the Blue Devils taking a 7-6 advantage before falling.
Duke evened the match 1-1 as Johnson, currently ranked 39th-nationally, downed 26th-ranked Dawaf, 6-4, 7-5 at the No. 2 singles position. Johnson came back from a 4-1deficit in the second set to capture the victory. Florida responded with a 6-0, 6-2 victory by 76th-ranked Gordon over Ioana Plesu at No. 4 and a 7-6, 7-6 win at the No. 5 position by Scaringe over Katie Granson to take a 3-1 advantage.
One of the highlights of the afternoon was the center court matchup of Duke's fourth-ranked McCain and Florida's second-ranked Lehnhoff. In the fall at the Omni Hotels National Indoor Championships, McCain cruised to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Lehnhoff, which was the only loss for the senior from Delray Beach, Fla. Friday's match was thrilling, as Lehnhoff quickly won the first set 6-4, but McCain battled back in thes econd to win 6-2. McCain kept the momentum in the third set as the freshman cruised to a 6-2 victory to cut the Gator team lead to 3-2. Lehnhoff now owns a 20-2 record this season, with both losses coming to McCain.
Duke's Saras Arasu evened the match 3-3 when she knocked off Annika Bengtsson at the No. 6 position 6-4, 0-6, 6-3. With only number three singles left, it came down to DeRoo for the Blue Devils and Reyes for the Gators. Reyes started off quickly winning the first set 6-2, but DeRoo responded with a 6-3 win in the second. DeRoo took a 4-3 advantage early, before Reyes mounted a comeback to clinch the match with a 6-4 victory.
Florida doesn't have much time to savor Friday's win, as the Gators play No. 2 Wake Forest in Winston Salem Saturday afternoon.
College Women's Tennis
Sheffield Indoor Tennis Center
Durham, NC
Final Score: Florida 4, Duke 3
Singles
1. #4 Kelly McCain (Duke) def. #2 Jessica Lehnhoff (Florida) 4-6, 6-2, 6-2
2. #39 Amanda Johnson (Duke) def. #26 Lindsay Dawaf (Florida) 6-4, 7-5
3. #47 Zerene Reyes (Florida) def. #18 Julie DeRoo (Duke) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
4. #76 Alexis Gordon (Florida) def. Ioana Plesu (Duke) 6-0, 6-2
5. Julia Scaringe (Florida) def. Katie Granson (Duke) 7-6, 7-6
6. Saras Arasu (Duke) def. Annika Bengtsson (Florida) 6-4, 0-6, 6-3
Doubles
1. #2 Dawaf/Lehnhoff (Florida) def. Adams/McCain (Duke) 9-8
2. Gordon/Scaringe (Florida) def. DeRoo/Johnson (Duke) 8-4
3. Granson/Abromeit (Duke) def. Bengtsson/Reyes (Florida) 9-8
END OF REPORT
