Florida Gators
Tennessee - NCAA Semifinal
Women's Tennis to Play for National Championship
Sunday, May 19, 2002 | Women's Tennis
Top-seeded Florida passed its toughest test in the NCAA Championship on Saturday afternoon, defeating Tennessee 4-1 in the semifinals of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships at the Taube Family Tennis Center. The Gators (24-1) will play Stanford (26-1) for the national championship on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. PT (4 p.m. ET). The Cardinal topped Georgia 4-0 to advance.
"This was a great match today, probably one of the best ones we've played this year," said UF head coach Roland Thornqvist, who collected his 99th career coaching win today. "Both teams were so competitive. It was just a great college match. It didn't worry me that we a lot of the matches went into a third set because I know we have good character players. Tennessee is one of the toughest teams in the country in terms of big hearts and fighting and it was a battle in all four matches that went three sets. We had to play at the top of our game to get it done."
This is Florida's ninth all-time appearance in the NCAA final, and the Gator's first since losing to Stanford in 1999.
"Every coach dreams of playing this match tomorrow; I certainly have," added Thornqvist, who is in his first year at Florida. "I will do everything I possibly can to help us win the championship tomorrow."
Additionally, Saturday's victory was the 650th in the storied 30-year history of the program, ending the day with a 650-98 all-time record.
Florida impressively took the doubles point, with Lindsay Dawaf and Jessica Lehnhoff defeating Vilmarie Castellvi and Agnes Wiski 8-3 at the No. 1 spot and Annika Bengtsson and Zerene Reyes topping Crystal Cleveland and Breanna Kray 8-2 to clinch at the no. 3 position.
In singles action, UF freshman Zerene Reyes (Mexico City, Mexico) dominated her No. 3 singles match against Kim Gates, posting a 6-3, 6-1 win to give the Gators a 2-0 lead. At the No. 5 position, sophomore Annika Bengtsson (Helsingborg, Sweden) struggled and lost to Crystal Cleveland 6-3, 6-3.
The other four singles matches split sets and were entering a decisive third to decide team victor.
Sophomore Lindsay Dawaf (Olney, MD) provided the clinching dual match point after a hard-fought 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2 win over Alison Ojeda at the No. 2 position. Dawaf had been serving for the first set, leading 5-4, but Ojeda broke and the remainder of the set was played on serve. Dawaf opened the tiebreaker with a mini-break and then held to go up quickly 3-0. The next three points were service holds, before Ojeda earned a mini-break and the held to take a 5-4 lead. Dawaf couldn't hold her next serve, as Ojeda capitalized and held to serve out the tiebreaker.
Dawaf regained her composure in the second and jumped out quickly to a 5-0 lead en route to forcing a deciding third, where she earned a break in the fourth game and then in the eighth to complete the victory.
"(UF head coach) Roland (Thornqvist) came over to me after the first set and told me that I needed to start out strong," Dawaf said. "I had to show (Ojeda) that I wasn't going to give up. I was more aggressive in the second set and went for more winners. I think that made a big difference and I continued it in the third set."
Dawaf provided the clinching team point just minutes after senior Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach, FL) regrouped for a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 victory against Vilmarie Castellvi at the No. 1 position. Lehnhoff, UF's lone senior, jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set en route to the closing it out with a service break. The first five games of the second set were all service breaks, as Castellvi grabbed a one-break advantage and then broke again in the ninth game to close out the set. Lehnhoff opened the deciding set with a break and earned another in the fifth game to take a 4-1 lead. Castellvi broke back, but couldn't overcome the deficit, as Lehnhoff served out the match to give the Gators a 3-1 lead.
Florida held the momentum at the remaining two singles positions when play was abandoned. Freshman Alexis Gordon (Windsor, CT) was receiving at match-point against Agnes Wiski, while junior Julia Scaringe (Marietta, GA) led Ashley Robards 4-1 in the third with a pair of service breaks in her pocket.
The Cardinal (26-1) hold a 12-10 advantage in the series against the Gators, including a commanding 6-1 record in NCAA Championship meetings. UF and SU have played each other in the NCAA final five previous times. Florida's lone postseason victory over Stanford was a 5-2 win in the final of the 1996 tournament. The two schools met last year in the semifinals, where Stanford won 4-1 en route to winning the national championship.
Stanford has won 22 consecutive matches entering Sunday's battle. Stanford's lone loss this season was a 4-3 setback to Georgia on February 9 in the semifinal of the National Team Indoor Championship.
NCAA Women's Tennis Championships Semifinals
Stanford, Calif.
Taube Family Tennis Center
Sat., May 18, 2002
Complete Team Results (seed)
(1) Florida 4, (13) Tennessee 1
(3) Stanford 4, (2) Georgia 0
Individual Florida Results
Final Score: Florida 4, Tennessee 1
Doubles
1- Lindsay Dawaf/Jessica Lehnhoff (3), UF d. Vilmarie Castellvi/Agnes Wiski (17), UT 8-3
2-Alexis Gordon/Julia Scaringe, UF vs. Kim Gates/Alison Ojeda, UT 5-5 abandoned
3-Annika Bengtsson/Zerene Reyes, UF d. Crystal Cleveland/Breanna Kray, UT 8-2*
Singles
1-Jessica Lehnhoff (1), UF d. Vilmarie Castellvi (9), UT 6-1, 3-6, 6-4
2-Lindsay Dawaf (18), UF d. Alison Ojeda (29), UT 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2*
3-Zerene Reyes (53), UF d. Kim Gates (110), UT 6-3, 6-1
4- Alexis Gordon (118), UF vs. Agnes Wiski, UT 1-6, 6-1, 5-4 abandoned
5- Crystal Cleveland, UT d. Annika Bengtsson, UF 6-3, 6-3
6-Julia Scaringe, UF vs. Ashley Robards, UT 6-4, 4-6, 4-1 abandoned
END OF REPORT
