Florida Gators
Gator Fall Classic -Day 3 of 3
Sunday's Action Complete at W-Tennis Gator Fall Classic
Sunday, September 19, 2004 | Women's Tennis
The University of Florida women's tennis team completed its season-opening weekend Sunday at the Gator Fall Classic by winning three of five singles matches against Miami and sweeping three doubles contests versus Kentucky. The Gators ended the three-day event with a 14-3 singles record and a 9-2 doubles mark.
"I don't think we played that well in doubles today, but I thought we fought really, really hard in singles and I was happy with that," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "I know our team was excited about facing Miami again after they ended our season last year (Miami defeated UF 4-3 in the second round of the NCAA Championships). We were short on players today (only five Gators were available for singles action), but I liked the way we stepped up. Our effort was terrific."
Claiming singles wins today for the Gators were Boglarka Berecz, Nina Suvak and Lolita Frangulyan.
Berecz posted a 7-0 record this weekend, including Sunday's 6-1, 6-4 singles victory over Staci Stevens, avenging last year's season-ending 6-3, 6-4 defeat in dual match play.
"I remembered what happened in our match last Spring and really wanted to win today," Berecz said.
After cruising through the first set, Berecz found herself trailing 4-0 in the second set before staging a comeback and a straight set victory.
"I didn't feel as good in the second set as I did in the first," Berecz said. "I was missing easy balls and giving her easy balls. I started to relax too much in the second set and she started gaining confidence that she could win the set. But she started making mistakes and I kept hanging in there and it worked out for me."
Thornqvist was impressed by Berecz's overall play this weekend.
"Boglarka certainly had the most outstanding weekend for us," Thornqvist said. "She was undefeated in singles and doubles and barely lost any games. She was down 4-0 in the second set today and that was the closest she's come to losing a set all weekend. But she battled back from that deficit. Her confidence is growing and you can tell how much she's improved since last year."
Suvak quietly won her third straight singles match, solidly defeating 121st-ranked Melissa Applebaum 6-0, 6-3 on court No. 4. The Gator sophomore lost just nine games in three singles matches to open the season.
Suvak had a solid weekend on the doubles court as well, collecting a 4-0 record, including today's thrilling 9-7 win with Frangulyan against Kentucky's Lara Maurer and Kim Coventry.
"I didn't play very well in doubles today, but Nina (Suvak) really pulled us through," Frangulyan credited. "We were three match-points down and she hit two unbelievable returns to keep us in the match. I give all the credit to her, she did awesome."
Frangulyan also logged a singles win today, improving to 3-0 this season. Sunday she topped Juliette Mavroleon 7-5, 6-3 to cap the perfect weekend, but the win didn't come without a battle. The Gator freshman staged the largest first set comeback for the Gators Sunday, rallying after trailing 4-1 and 5-2 in the first set.
"I was very nervous in the beginning," Frangulyan said. "Juliette is a good friend of mine and we've been playing against each other for several years. But when (UF Associate Head Coach) Dave (Balogh) came over and talked to me about my strategy, everything started to get better. Overall, I'm pleased with how I played this weekend. It was a good start and I'm just so happy to be a Gator."
Jennifer Magley, ranked 12th in the country, dropped a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 decision to second-ranked Megan Bradley. The contest was a rematch from last year's NCAA Singles Championship round of 16, where Bradley earned a 6-2, 7-5 win.
"Jennifer played better against Megan today than she did in their last meeting," Thornqvist said. "She showed she has improved and she's closing the gap. Her serve hurt her today, but it will get better. I liked what I saw."
Gator freshman Alex Liles was handed her first collegiate singles loss, as she fell to Emily Mowery 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8).
"Alex played pretty well," Thornqvist said. "She hasn't played enough of matches because of her injury and that showed toward the end of the third set tiebreaker. Overall, she was hitting the ball pretty well."
The Gators next return to the courts for the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships played October 4 through 10 in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Women's Tennis 2004 Gator Fall Classic
Ring Tennis Complex, Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Singles
Megan Bradley (2), Miami def. Jennifer Magley (12), Florida 7-5, 6-3
Boglarka Berecz (56), Florida def. Staci Stevens (91), Miami 6-1, 6-4
Emily Mowery, Miami def. Alex Liles, Florida 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-8)
Nina Suvak, Florida def. Melissa Applebaum (121), Miami 6-0, 6-3
Lolita Frangulyan, Florida def. Juliette Mavroleon, Miami 7-5, 6-3
Sarah Foster (32), Kentucky def. Mihaela Moldvan (36), FSU 6-3, 6-0
Joelle Schwenk, Kentucky def. Lindsay Deason, FSU 6-4, 6-2
Roxanne Clarke, FSU def. Danielle Petrisko, Kentucky 6-4, 6-3
Emily Foster, Kentucky def. Tapiwa Marobela, FSU 1-6, 6-3, 1-0 (13-11)
Kim Coventry, Kentucky def. Natalie Tirapelli, FSU 6-1, 6-0
Alina Mihailescu, FSU def. Christine Simpson, Kentucky 2-6, 6-4, 1-0 (10-7)
Lara Maurer, Kentucky def. Amberly Tantee, FSU 4-6, 6-1, 1-0 (10-4)
Doubles
Jennifer Magley- Zerene Reyes (12), Florida def. Emily Foster- Sarah Foster, Kentucky 8-4
Whitney Benik- Boglarka Berecz, Florida def. Danielle Petrisko- Joelle Schwenk, Kentucky 8-2
Lolia Frangulyan- Nina Suvak, Florida def. Lara Maurer- Kim Coventry, Kentucky 9-7
Megan Bradley- Juliette Mavroleon, Miami def. Roxanne Clarke- Mihaela Moldovan (58), FSU 8-3
Melissa Applebaum- Caren Seenauth, Miami def. Lindsay Deason - Tapiwa Marobela, FSU 8-6
Amber Tantee- Natalie Tirapelli, FSU def. Emily Mowery- Staci Stevens, Miami 8-3
END OF REPORT
