Florida Gators
Arkansas
Women's Tennis Sweeps Arkansas, 7-0
Saturday, March 9, 2002 | Women's Tennis
The fifth-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team survived the wind and the Lady Razorbacks, cruising to a 7-0 shutout of Arkansas at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex Friday afternoon.
The Gators (6-0, 3-0 SEC) captured the doubles point in convincing fashion and then won all six singles match in straight sets against Arkansas (4-6, 0-3 SEC) to post their first shutout of the season. Florida also improved its all-time home record against SEC opponents to 104-0.
"We have been working on being more offensive minded but it was really hard to today because the wind was so strong," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said.
One of the highlights of the match came after Florida had already clinched the team victory. Junior Julia Scaringe (Marietta, GA), who has been battling back from an injury, was able to complete her first singles match since October 28, 2001. Scaringe was victorious at the No. 6 position over Iliana Pacheco 6-4, 6-4.
"I was happy with the way I struck the ball and the way the ball came off the strings," Scaringe said. "The strategy will come with more matches. I thought I played pretty well considering the circumstances. My shoulder felt amazingly well throughout the match."
The match closed with six straight service breaks, as Scaringe emerged with the win.
"Julia played two brilliant return games to win both sets," Thornqvist said. "Her opponent made her earn every point today and I was impressed with the way Julia stayed mentally tough in the match. It's been a long time since she has been able to finish a match and her play is extremely important to the success of our team."
Gator sophomore Annika Bengtsson (Helsingborg, Sweden) defeated Megan Ferreira 6-3, 6-0 at the No. 5 position to give Florida its first singles victory. Within minutes, Lindsay Dawaf (Olney, MD), Alexis Gordon (Windsor, CT) and Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach, FL) all won their respective matches to secure the dual match victory. Freshman Zerene Reyes (Mexico City, Mexico) outslugged Adriana Lopez 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 4 spot to provide the Gator sweep.
The Gators were impressive capturing the double point, as Florida won by scores of 8-2, 8-1 and 8-3 at courts No. 1, 2 and 3, respectively. UF's No. 1 duo of Lindsay Dawaf and Jessica Lehnhoff provided the first win against the sister pair of Anna and Monika Dybicz. The clinching match came at No. 2, where Alexis Gordon and Julia Scaringe topped Simona Arghire and Iliana Pacheco. Annika Bengtsson and Zerene Reyes finished shortly afterwards, polishing off the doubles sweep versus Megan Ferreira and Adriana Lopez.
Florida continues its five-match homestand on Sunday, when the Gators play host to LSU beginning at 1:00 p.m. Admission to the match is free.
Florida 7, Arkansas 0
Gainesville, Fla. * Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Friday, March 08, 2002
Doubles
1-Lindsay Dawaf/Jessica Lehnhoff (9), UF d. Anna Dybicz/Monika Dybicz (AR) 8-2
2-Alexis Gordon/Julia Scaringe, UF d. Simona Arghire/Iliana Pacheco (AR) 8-1*
3-Annika Bengtsson/Zerene Reyes, UF d. Megan Ferreira/Adriana Lopez (AR) 8-3
Singles
1-Jessica Lehnhoff (2), UF d. Simona Arghire (81), AR 6-3, 6-3
2-Lindsay Dawaf (29), UF d. Monika Dybicz, AR 6-1, 6-1
3-Alexis Gordon (76), UF d. Anna Dybicz, AR 6-2, 6-0*
4-Zerene Reyes, UF d. Adriana Lopez, AR 6-4, 6-3
5-Annika Bengtsson, UF d. Megan Ferreira, AR 6-3, 6-0
6-Julia Scaringe, UF d. Iliana Pacheco, AR 6-4, 6-4
*clinched match & doubles point
END OF REPORT
