Florida Gators
Tennessee
Women's Tennis Defeats Tennessee, 6-1
Sunday, March 28, 2004 | Women's Tennis
The second-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team closed out its regular season home schedule with a solid 6-1 victory over No. 26 Tennessee at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
The Gators improved to 15-0 overall and 8-0 in the Southeastern Conference, while the Vols dropped to 12-10 and 6-2 in league action. UF now holds a one-match lead over Georgia and Vanderbilt, who each have a 6-1 record in SEC play and both losing to the Gators.
Florida opened the match taking the doubles point in thrilling fashion, winning on court No. 2 and then rallying on court No. 3 for the clinching victory. UF then took control on the singles courts, winning the first five matches to seal the dual match. The victory was the Gator's 32nd consecutive win and improved the team's home record against SEC rivals to an impressive 120-1 all-time.
"I didn't think we had our best stuff for doubles in particular," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "I was one of our poorer outings. There's no question this was a dangerous match for us. I think we all knew that. Tennessee did a good job fighting and did a few things that exposed us. Our team is powerful, but there are definitely areas where we can get a lot better."
Fittingly, it was senior Lindsay Dawaf who provided the clinching victory, playing on court for the final time at home during the regular season. Dawaf downed Majen Immink 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 5 spot in one hour and 31 minutes and remained undefeated in singles matches this year with a 14-0 record while notching her 99th career win. The Gator senior raced through the first set and began the second with a break before Immink got on the board with a break, herself. Dawaf again used a break in the next game to regain the advantage and posted breaks in the fifth and seventh games on the second set en route to the win.
"It was kind of sad playing at home in front the crowd for the final time, but it was an amazing feeling," Dawaf said. "Our crowd is so supportive. It was a great feeling because my whoel family was here and I played well. It was really awesome."
UF's Zerene Reyes painted the corners and ran Ashley Robards back and fourth along the baseline all match long during her 6-0, 6-0 victory at the No. 3 spot to log her 13th consecutive win and give the Gators a 2-0 lead in the team competition.
Boglarka Berecz regrouped from Friday's singles loss that snapped her 13 match winning streak and powered past Blakeley Griffith 6-2, 6-1 on the No. 4 court. The Gator sophomore used breaks in the fourth, sixth and eighth games to take the first set. Griffith opened the second by breaking Berecz, but the Gator broke right back en route to winning the final six games of the match.
Alexis Gordon used her blazing serve to help defeat Sabita Maharaj 7-5, 6-3 at the No. 1 position. The first set was on-serve through the first 10 games, but it was Gordon who broke through first, taking Maharaj's serve in the 11 games and then serving out for the opening set, blasting an ace on the final point of the set. Gordon then carried that momentum into the second set, where she opened with a break and held at love to take a 2-0 lead. The rest of the match was played on-serve until Gordon posted one final break in the ninth game, taking Maharaj's serve at love to win the match.
On court No. 2, UF's Jennifer Magley, ranked No. 31 in the country, also used her strong serve and powerful ground strokes to take down 27th-ranked Tammy Encina 7-5, 6-2. Magley earned the first break of the match and rode it to a 4-1 lead. But Encina broke back in the seventh game and again in the ninth to take a 5-4 lead and prepared to serve for the first set. However Magley dug deep and broke right back before winning the next two games to take the opening set. Magley then raced out to a 4-0 lead in the second and was serving to take the first five games, but Encina battled back to earn the break and get on the board. The final three games of the set were breaks, with Magley the recipient of two en route to earning the upset victory.
UF's lone singles loss of the day came on the No. 6 court, where Nina Suvak fell to Vicky Jones 6-2, 7-5. Suvak lost her serve in the opening game and never quite recovered in the first set. She lost her serve to begin the second set, but rallied to win the next five and march to the baseline with the serve and a 5-1 lead in the second. However, Jones continued to battle and Suvak couldn't close out the set to force a third, falling for the first time in 15 matches.
In doubles, UF's Jennifer Magley and Zerene Reyes logged the first win of the afternoon with a 8-4 victory over Ashley Robards and Sabita Maharaj at the No. 2 position to post their 15th consecutive win. The Gator duo raced out to a 4-1 lead behind a pair of breaks and seemed to be cruising after Magley held a 40-0 lead on her serve in the sixth game. But the feisty Vol pair fought back to take the game and then Robards held to close the Gator gap to 4-3. Reyes held her serve and the UF duo earned another break, losing just one point in the next game to take a 6-3 advantage with the serve. However UT broke Magley at love to stay within one break of evening the match. But the Gators lost just one point in the next game and broke right back before Reyes served out for the win.
On the No. 3 doubles court, Boglarka Berecz and Nina Suvak rallied for a 8-6 victory against Melissa Schaub and Breanna Kray to clinch the doubles point. The Gator pair found themselves down a break entering the eighth game, but broke at love to even the score at 4-all. Berecz then held, as did UT on its next serve before breaking Suvak in the 11th game to take a 6-5 advantage with the serve. Berecz and Suvak didn't back down and broke the Vols right back at love and match again was on-serve after Berecz held. UT rolled out to a 40-0 lead in the 14th game, but couldn't polish off the young Gator tandem, who fought off six game points and capitalized on their first break and match point to win the contest.
The No. 2 doubles court was extremely tight, and Alexis Gordon and senior Julie Rotondi eventually fell to Tammy Encina and Majen Immink 8-6. The match was on-serve through the first six games, with many of those games featuring multiple duces before an winner emerged. The UT duo earned the first break and then held before taking another of UF's serve and march out to a 6-3 lead with the serve. The Gator pair broke Encina in an extremely long 10th game, but were unable to snatch another break, as the remainder of the match was played on-serve.
Florida returns to the court on Friday, April 2, when the team travels to Mississippi State in the first of four straight road matches to end the regular season.
College Women's Tennis
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, March 28, 2004
Final Score: Florida 6, Tennessee 1
Doubles
No. 1 Tammy Encina/Majen Immink (39), UT def. Alexis Gordon/Julie Rotondi (8), UF 8-6
No. 2 Jennifer Magley/Zerene Reyes (21), UF def. Ashley Robards/Sabita Maharaj, UT 8-4
No. 3 Boglarka Berecz/Nina Suvak, UF def. Melissa Schaub/Breanna Kray, UT 8-6*
Singles
No. 1 Alexis Gordon (2), UF def. Sabita Maharaj (85), UT 7-5, 6-3
No. 2 Jennifer Magley (31), UF def. Tammy Encina (27), UT 7-5, 6-2
No. 3 Zerene Reyes (87), UF def. Ashley Robards, UT 6-0, 6-0
No. 4 Boglarka Berecz, UF def. Blakeley Griffith, UT 6-2, 6-1
No. 5 Lindsay Dawaf (t-100), UF def. Majen Immink, UT 6-0, 6-2*
No. 6 Vicky Jones, UT def. Nina Suvak, UF 6-2, 7-5
Order of Finish: Doubles-2, 3, 1; Singles- 3, 4, 5, 2, 1, 6
* Clinched doubles point/match
END OF REPORT
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