Florida Gators
Wake Forest
No. 3 W-Tennis Continues Streak, tops No. 2 Wake
Saturday, March 23, 2002 | Women's Tennis
In a battle between the second and third-ranked women's tennis teams in the country, No. 3 Florida came away with the 6-1 victory over No. 2 Wake Forest on Saturday afternoon at Leighton Tennis Stadium. With the win, Florida remains undefeated and improves its record to 12-0. Wake Forest halts an 11-match win streak and drops to 14-2 on the season.
The Gator win came just 16 hours after the team topped No. 7 Duke in an emotional 4-3 victory in Durham. In the last 11 days, Florida has defeated five teams ranked in the top 11 in the country.
"I am incredibly proud of this team," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "We just concluded what has to be the toughest stretch of any team in the country this season, while battling nagging injuries and a stomach virus that has swept through the team and somehow we found a way to win every match. Every day it seems like someone different has stepped up and put the team on their shoulders. We'll enjoy a few days off now before heading back on the road against the SEC."
The Gators jumped out to an early lead by winning the doubles point, picking up wins at No. 2 and 3 doubles. The No. 3 duo of Annika Bengtsson and Zerene Reyes cruised to an 8-1 win over Wake Forest's Katie Martzolf and Danielle Schwartz. At No. 2 doubles, the Florida duo of Alexis Gordon and Julia Scaringe clinched the team point with a 9-7 victory over Wake's Karin Coetzz and Aimee Smith. Coetzee and Smith built a 6-1 lead, but the Gators came back, taking eight of the final nine games for the win.
Despite losing the team doubles point, Wake Forest's No. 1 duo of Janet Bergman and Bea Bielik, the nation's top-ranked tandem, successfully defended their ranking by defeating second-ranked Lindsay Dawaf and Jessica Lehnhoff of UF, 8-6.
With just four of Leighton Stadium's five courts in use, Florida got out to a quick lead in singles by winning the first set in all four matches. Like doubles, the No. 1 singles match pitted the nation's top-ranked players - No. 1 Bielik and No. 2 Lehnhoff. Lehnhoff held off Bielik in the first set, 7-5, while her teammate Dawaf, ranked 26th, did the same to Wake's 19th-ranked Bergman at No. 2 singles. At No. 3 singles, Gator Zerene Reyes came from behind to win her first set, 7-6, over Wake's Martzolf, while Gordon took the first set over Deacon Maren Haus, 6-4, at No. 4 singles.
The Gators took a 3-1 lead in the match after Gordon went on to defeat Haus, 6-4, 6-1 and Dawaf upset Bergman, 7-5, 6-2.
At No. 1 singles, Bielik came back to win the second set, 6-3, then got up 4-1 in the third set before pulling out the victory, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4. The win keeps her undefeated in dual match play this spring and avenges her only loss of the 2001-02 season. In the quarterfinals of the Riviera All-American Tournament this past October, Lehnhoff was leading Bielik 6-1, 4-0 before Bielik was forced to retire due to cramps.
The No. 5 and No. 6 singles matches took the court, but each got just one set in the books before Florida's Reyes clinched the match with a 7-6, 6-2 victory over Martzolf at No. 3 singles. Wake Forest then defaulted Nos. 5 and 6, giving Florida the victory by a 6-1 score.
Florida returns to action on Fri., March 29, when the team travels to Tuscaloosa to battle SEC foe Alabama.
#3 Florida 6, #2 Wake Forest 1
Leighton Tennis Stadium * Winston-Salem, N.C.
Doubles
1 - #1 Bergman/Bielik (WF) def. #2 Dawaf/Lehnhoff (UF), 8-6
2 - Gordon/Scaringe (UF) def. Coetzee/Smith (WF), 9-7
3 - Bengtsson/Reyes (UF) def. Martzolf/Danielle Schwartz (WF), 8-1
UF wins doubles point
Singles
1 - #1 Bea Bielik (WF) def. #2 Jessica Lehnhoff (UF), 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
2 - #26 Lindsay Dawaf (UF) def. #17 Janet Bergman (WF), 7-5, 6-2
3 - #47 Zerene Reyes (UF) def. #81 Katie Martzolf (WF), 7-6, 6-2
4 - #76 Alexis Gordon (UF) def. Maren Haus (WF), 6-4, 6-1
5 - Julia Scaringe (UF) def. Elizabeth Proctor (WF), 6-1, def.
6 - Annika Bengtsson (UF) def. Karin Coetzee (WF), 1-6, def.
END OF REPORT
