Florida Gators
ITA All-Am. Champ. Qualifying
W-Tennis Rallies for Thrilling Wins at Riviera All-American
Wednesday, October 6, 2004 | Women's Tennis
The University of Florida women's tennis team capped a thrilling first day of play at the Riviera All-American Championships Qualifying draw, as Zerene Reyes and Boglarka Berecz each won two matches, rallying for comebacks in their respective second round contests.
Reyes found herself trailing New Mexico's Iva Gersic 7-5, 4-0 in the match before staging an incredible comeback to win the 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 battle in three hours and 30 minutes. Earlier in the day Reyes cruised past USC's Carine Vermeulen, the 11th-seed, 6-1, 6-2.
Berecz also found herself in a significant deficit during her second round matchup against Nebraska Gitte Ostermann, as she was receiving down 5-2, 30-0 before mounting a 7-5, 6-1 straight set win.
Freshman Lolita Frangulyan, who was playing her fifth match in four days, endured her first collegiate singles loss, dropping a hard-fought 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 decision to No. 38-ranked Julie Smekodub of Tulane. Frangulyan opened the season winning her first seven matches that included four wins in the previous three days as she played her way through the Pre-Qualifying draw to reach Tuesday's Qualifying event. She later played Clemson's 50th-ranked Daniela Alvarez in the consolation draw but was on the short end of a thrilling 7-5, 7-5 outcome.
"I'm just so proud of the way we played today," UF associate head coach Dave Balogh said. "We showed a tremendous amount of heart. I've never seem more heart in my life than what Zerene displayed during her match. I'm just amazed."
Reyes next plays top-seeded and 27th-ranked Courtney Bergman of Harvard, while Berecz's opponent will be Elena Gantcheva of UNLV. The winner of each of those matches advances to the main draw of the prestigious national event.
Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Tennis Championships
Riviera Tennis Club
Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Oct. 5, 2004
UF Results Only
Qualifying Singles First Round (field of 64)
Zerene Reyes (47), UF def. Carine Vermeulen (40), USC 6-1, 6-2
Boglarka Berecz (56), UF def. Hali Sufi (93), Purdue 7-5, 6-3
Julie Smekodub (38), Tulane def. Lolita Frangulyan, UF 6-3, 5-7, 6-4
Qualifying Singles Second Round (field of 32)
Zerene Reyes (47), UF def. Iva Gersic (62), New Mexico 5-7, 7-5, 6-1
Boglarka Berecz (56), UF def. Gitte Ostermann (44), Nebraska 7-5, 6-1
Consolation Singles First Round (field of 32)
Daniela Alvarez (50), Clemson def. Lolita Frangulyan, UF 7-5, 7-5
Qualifying Doubles First Round (field of 32)
Whitney Benik/Lolita Frangulyan, UF def. Jamie Piesel/Valerie Vladea, Northwestern 8-6
Boglarka Berecz/Nina Suvak (36), UF def. Anna Bentzer/Jenny Hu, UC-Irvine 8-3
END OF REPORT
