Florida Gators
South Carolina
Women's Tennis Defeats South Carolina, 4-2
Sunday, April 14, 2002 | Women's Tennis
The second-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team concluded its regular season Saturday afternoon with a 4-2 victory over 19th-ranked South Carolina. The win improved the Gators overall record to 16-1, including a 10-1 mark in the SEC and left Florida with a second place finish in the league. USC falls to 14-6 overall and 7-4 in SEC action.
"We didn't play well at all in doubles and lost the point, but we did a phenomenal job turning our play around in singles," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "We played very intelligent tennis in singles and that was the key for us today."
The SEC Tournament is up next for Florida, with the 12-team event beginning on Thursday in Columbia, S.C. The Gators will be the No. 2 seed and receive a first-round bye in the four-day tournament. Regular season conference action for four teams concludes on Sunday and the entire draw will be announced later in the day.
"We are eager to return to Columbia next week to compete in the SEC Tournament," Thornqvist said. "We feel that all the pieces are coming together for us and we're excited about facing the other teams in the conference again."
In today's match, USC jumped out to a 1-0 lead by taking two doubles matches to claim the valuable doubles point. Carolina's 28th-ranked Lynn-Yin Tan and Jodi Kenoyer disposed of Florida's Alexis Gordon and Julia Scaringe, 8-5, at No. 2 doubles for the first win. At No. 1 doubles, USC's 45th-ranked pair of Jennifer Radman and Kathy Boyanovich recorded an 8-6 upset win over fifth-ranked Lindsay Dawaf and Jessica Lehnhoff. That win is Radman/Boyanovich's second win over a Top 5 opponent this season and their fourth win overall against a ranked foe.
In singles action, Florida got on the board first with a win at No. 2 singles as 19th-ranked Lindsay Dawaf beat 85th-ranked Jennifer Radman 6-1, 6-1.
USC retook the lead momentarily when Jodi Kenoyer beat Julia Scaringe at No. 5, winning 6-2, 6-3. But the Gators pulled even again at 2-2 when 39th-ranked Zerene Reyes beat Lynn-Yin Tan at No. 4, winning 6-4, 6-1. Florida's 2nd-ranked Jessica Lehnhoff was tested mightily by Carolina's 72nd-ranked Katarina Markovski at No. 1 singles, but Lehnhoff was able to survive with a critical 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 win to give UF a 3-2 lead in the match.
The Gators clinched the match at No. 6 singles when Annika Bengtsson beat Tamara Sutton 6-2, 7-6 (3).
Women's College Tennis
Columbia, S.C.
April 13, 2002
Final Score: Florida 4, USC 2
Doubles
1. (45) Radman/Boyanovich (USC) vs. (5) Dawaf/Lehnhoff (UF) 8-6*
2. (28) Tan/Kenoyer (USC) vs. Gordon/Scaringe (UF) 8-5
3. Markovski/Ayako Suzuki (USC) vs. Bengtsson/Reyes (UF) DNF
* South Carolina wins the doubles point; Order of finish: 2, 1
(Match at No. 3 doubles was suspended due to time constraints with Florida
leading 6-3)
Singles
1. (2) Jessica Lehnhoff (UF) def. (72) Katarina Markovski (USC) 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
2. (19) Lindsay Dawaf (UF) def. (85) Jennifer Radman (USC) 6-1, 6-1
3. Kathy Boyanovich (USC) vs. (94) Alexis Gordon (UF) DNF
4. (39) Zerene Reyes (UF) def. Lynn-Yin Tan (USC) 6-4, 6-1
5. Jodi Kenoyer (USC) def. Julia Scaringe (UF) 6-2, 6-3
6. Annika Bengtsson (UF) def. Tamara Sutton (USC) 6-2, 7-6 (3)*
* Clinched dual match win
Order of finish: 2, 5, 4, 1, 6
(ITA National Collegiate Rankings)
END OF REPORT
