Florida Gators
Tennessee
No. 1 Women's Tennis Tops No. 10 Tennessee, 6-1
Saturday, April 6, 2002 | Women's Tennis
The top-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team remained undefeated with tonight's 6-1 victory over 10th-ranked Tennessee at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex. On a chilly evening, the Gators extended their all-time home record against SEC opponents to 108-0 and have won 21 consecutive against league foes.
Tonight's victory sets up Sunday's battle against second-ranked Georgia, which enters the match 18-1 overall, 9-0 in the SEC. Florida is 15-0 overall and 9-0 in league action. That match is the regular season home finale for Florida, which will honor its lone senior Jessica Lehnhoff in a pre-match ceremony. The match will begin at 1 p.m. and admission is free. The first 100 fans will receive free grilled sausage dogs.
"I thought we played really well," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "We talked after Monday's Auburn match about composure and competitiveness and I thought our team responded magnificently."
Lehnhoff, ranked No. 2-ranked in the nation in singles, looked impressive again tonight, defeating sixth-ranked Vilmarie Castellvi 6-3, 6-1 to give Florida a 2-0 lead in the team competition. Earlier in the day, the Gators won two of the three doubles matches to secure the doubles point.
"We competed really well as a team today and everything worked for us," Lehnhoff said.
Annika Bengtsson clinched both the doubles point and the match point for the Gators. In doubles action, she and Zerene Reyes defeated Breanna Kray and Ashley Robards 8-3 in 47 minutes at the No. 3 position. In singles action, Bengtsson defeated Kray at the No. 6 spot 6-1, 6-3 in 89 minutes. Bengtsson broke serve to increase her lead 4-2 in the second set and later held serve to win the match 6-3 in the second.
UF sophomore Lindsay Dawaf downed Alison Ojeda 7-6 (3), 6-2 at the No. 2 position to give the Gators their third win of the dual match. Dawaf survived a turbulent first set, as the first four games of the second set were all service breaks. Dawaf then held and broke Ojeda's serve to take a 4-2 lead and polished off the match winning the next two games.
At the No. 4 position, freshman Alexis Gordon battled back after losing the first set against Crystal Cleveland, en route to the win. Cleveland retired after falling behind 3-0 in the third, as Gordon took the 5-7, 6-2, 3-0 decision.
Freshman Zerene Reyes trailed 5-1 in the first set of her No. 3 singles match against Agnes Wiski, but ripped off the next eight games to complete an incredible rally and win the match 7-5, 6-4. Reyes is now 13-0 during her young career.
Florida's lone loss came at the No. 5 singles position, where junior Julia Scaringe lost to Ashley Robards 6-3, 6-7, 10-8, with the final set played as a super-tiebreaker since the dual match had already been clinched.
In doubles, UF's fifth-ranked pair of Lindsay Dawaf and Jessica Lehnhoff defeated No. 16 Vilmarie Castellvi and Agnes Wiski at the No. 1 position to start the Gators' lead 8-3. Tennessee's Crystal Cleveland and Alison Ojeda defeated Alexis Gordon and Julia Scaringe 8-6.
College Women's Tennis
No. 1 Florida 6, No. 10 Tennessee 1
Gainesville, Fla. * Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Friday, April 5, 2002
Doubles
1-Lindsay Dawaf/Jessica Lehnhoff (5), UF d. Vilmarie Castellvi/Agnes Wiski (16), UT 8-3
2- Crystal Cleveland/Alison Ojeda, UT d. Alexis Gordon/Julia Scaringe, UF 8-6
3-Annika Bengtsson/Zerene Reyes, UF d. Breanna Kray/Ashley Robards, UT 8-3*
Singles
1-Jessica Lehnhoff (2), UF d. Vilmarie Castellvi, UT 6-3, 6-1
2-Lindsay Dawaf (19), UF d. Alison Ojeda, UT 7-6 (3), 6-2
3-Zerene Reyes (39), UF d. Agnes Wiski (113), UT 7-5, 6-4
4- Alexis Gordon (94), UF d. Crystal Cleveland, UT 5-7, 6-2, 3-0 ret.
5- Ashley Robards, UT d. Julia Scaringe, UF 6-3, 6-7, 10-8
6- Annika Bengtsson, UF d. Breanna Kray, UT 6-1, 6-3*
*clinched match & doubles point
END OF REPORT
