Florida Gators
Vanderbilt
No. 2 Women's Tennis Falls at No. 5 Vanderbilt, 4-3
Saturday, March 12, 2005 | Women's Tennis
The second-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team lost for the first time this season, falling 4-3 at No. 5 Vanderbilt Friday afternoon at the Currey Tennis Complex.
The loss is the Gators (6-1, 2-1 SEC) first regular season setback since March 16, 2003 when the Commodores (12-1, 3-0 SEC) won 4-3. Florida had won 33 consecutive regular season matches since that decision.
"Vanderbilt played very, very well," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Not only did Vanderbilt out-play us, but they out-competed us and that's the hardest nut to swallow here tonight. That was the difference in the match. Hopefully, we'll learn from this and rebound Sunday against Kentucky."
The Gators conclude their five-match road trip on Sunday, when the team travels to No. 6 Kentucky and aims to avoid consecutive regular season losses for the first time since 1985-86.
Florida won the doubles point in thrilling fashion, as the pair of Jennifer Magley and Zerene Reyes captured the No. 1 position against Audra Falk and Annie Menees 9-8 (7-5) and appeared to give the Gators the momentum. The Gator freshmen duo of Whitney Benik and Lolita Frangulyan fell 8-5 to Taka Bertrand and Amanda Fish at the No. 2 spot, forcing Florida to win the remaining two matches to capture the point, which the Gators did for the 31st straight time in a regular season dual match.
Vanderbilt earned its first point of the team competition on the No. 2 singles court, where Amanda Fish produced a 6-4, 6-1 win over Boglarka Berecz. Whitney Benik then swung the lead back toward Florida with a 6-3, 6-2 victory against Annie Menees at the No. 5 position. However, the Commodores ripped off wins on courts No. 3, 4 and 1 to capture only their second win over the Gators in the 32-match history of the series.
College Women's Tennis
No. 2 Florida at No. 5 Vanderbilt
Currey Tennis Complex * Nashville, Tenn.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Final Score: Vanderbilt 4, Florida 3
Doubles
No. 1 Jennifer Magley/Zerene Reyes (10), UF def. Audra Falk/Annie Menees (21), VU 9-8 (7-5)*
No. 2 Taka Bertrand/Amanda Fish (55), VU def. Whitney Benik/Lolita Frangulyan (5), UF 8-5
No. 3 Boglarka Berecz/Nina Suvak, UF def. Caroline Ferrell/Amanda Taylor, VU 8-2
Singles
No. 1 Audra Falk (14), VU def. Jennifer Magley (10), UF 3-6, 6-2, 6-3*
No. 2 Amanda Fish (53), VU def. Boglarka Berecz (51), UF 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 Taka Bertrand (89), VU def. Zerene Reyes (12), UF 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 Amanda Taylor, VU def. Alex Liles, UF 7-5, 6-4
No. 5 Whitney Benik, UF def. Annie Menees, VU 6-3, 6-2
No. 6 Nina Suvak, UF def. Caroline Ferrell, VU 6-1
Order of Finish: Doubles-2, 3, 1; Singles-2, 5, 3, 4, 1, 6
*clinched doubles point/dual match
END OF REPORT
