Florida Gators
NCAA Singles & Doubles - Day 5
Gator Senior to Play for W-NCAA Singles Title
Friday, May 24, 2002 | Women's Tennis
Jessica Lehnhoff (Delray Beach, FL) made UF history on Thursday by becoming the first-ever Gator to advance to the semifinals of the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships in the same season. On Friday, she extended her place in the Florida record book, as she marched into the singles final after a solid 6-4, 6-2 victory over Stanford's Gabriela Lastra.
"I'm just so excited," Lehnhoff said about reaching the NCAA Singles Final. "Coming into today, I didn't know what to expect from myself mentally or physically. But like I've said before, this could be my last match in college and I had to do everything I could, I had to reach down deep. I did that today and came through."
Lehnhoff plays top-seeded Bea Bielik from Wake Forest for the championship beginning at 12 Noon PT (3 p.m. ET). Bielik has dominated the tournament, losing a total of just 19 games through five matches en route to the final, including her convincing 6-1, 6-0 victory over Stanford's Erin Burdette in the semifinal. Victories by Lehnhoff and Bielik assured that a Cardinal will not compete in the singles final for the first time since 1996.
Later in the day, Lehnhoff paired with Gator sophomore Lindsay Dawaf (Olney, MD) in the NCAA Doubles Semifinals and the Florida duo lost to top-seeded Lastra and Lauren Kalvaria from Stanford 6-2, 6-4.
Lehnhoff and Lastra battled point for point throughout the semifinal singles bout. Both used precision ground strokes and keen accuracy, especially during the first set, where none of the games featured a duce. Lehnhoff earned the first break of the match, winning the third game at love, but Lastra broke right back to even the set. After each held, Lehnhoff broke again, but Lastra struck back immediately to tie the set at 4-all. Lehnhoff lost just one point in the next game, break Lasta, and then held on her second set-point to capture the opening frame 6-4.
Neither player relinquished her serve through the first four games of the second set, as Lehnhoff fought off one break point during the stretch. After holding her second service game, Lehnhoff jumped on Lastra's serve in the ensuing game, winning the first two points. Lastra then won the next three points, before Lehnhoff ripped off the next three to take the first break of the second set and assume a 3-2 lead. Lehnhoff continued that winning spree, using the momentum of the fifth game to win 11 consecutive points, which included two straight love games, to take a commanding 5-2 lead. In the eighth and final game of the match was by far the longest during the semifinal battle, lasting 14 points and several long rallies with each. Lehnhoff fought off two break points and finally capitalized on her third match point to become the first Gator to reach the NCAA Singles Final since M.C. White did in 1997. Ironically, that was the last time Stanford played host to the event.
"Against (Lastra), I knew I had to move the ball around and have mostly cross-court rallies with her forehand and break it up with a backhand," Lehnhoff said. "I just played my game and didn't really think too much out there. I did go into the match with a plan and that was to keep moving forward."
Gators have claimed four NCAA Singles titles, with the last coming in 1996 when Jill Craybas captured the crown.
The semifinal win improved Lehnhoff's career singles record to 136-24, moving her into sixth all-time at Florida for singles victories. The Gator senior is 35-3 this season, having split two meetings with Bielik during the year. The Wake Forest junior owns a 31-2 singles record entering Saturday's finale, defaulting both losses due to injury.
Lehnhoff ends her collegiate doubles career with a 114-23 record, the fourth most victories in UF history.
In her final collegiate doubles match, it appeared as though the wear and tear of the past nine days of competition finally caught up with the Gator duo. The semifinal doubles match was Lehnhoff's 16th over the last nine days, including three long three-set singles matches and a pair of matches that were in the third set when team play was abandoned.
"There was a considerable difference in the energy level between the two teams," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Jessica is obviously running out of steam. I thought Lindsay did a good job in the first set of trying to pump her up. Even though the second set score was closer, I thought (Stanford) lowered their level of play more than we increased ours."
Former UF star Nicole Arendt advanced to the semifinal round of both the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships during her career, but did not do so in the same year. Arendt lost in the 1990 singles final before winning the 1991 doubles crown with Jillian Alexander.
NCAA Women's Tennis Singles & Doubles Championships
Stanford, Calif.
Taube Family Tennis Center
Friday, May 24, 2002
Singles Semifinal (seed)
(1) Bea Bielik, Wake Forest d. Erin Burdette, Stanford 6-1, 6-0
(3) Jessica Lehnhoff, Florida d. Gabriela Lastra, Stanford 6-4, 6-2
Doubles Semifinal
(1) Lauren Kalvaria/Gabriela Lastra, Stanford d. (3) Lindsay Dawaf/Jessica Lehnhoff, UF 6-2, 6-4
Megan Bradley/Lauren Fisher, UCLA d. (4) Carolina Mayorga/Sarah Witten, Kentucky 7-6, 6-2
END OF REPORT
