Florida Gators
Kentucky -SEC Tournament Final
Women's Tennis Wins SEC Tournament Title with Improbable Comeback
Sunday, April 24, 2005 | Women's Tennis
The University of Florida women's tennis team staged an unbelievable comeback, rallying to win its fourth consecutive and 14th overall Southeastern Conference Tournament title with a 4-2 victory over third-ranked Kentucky Sunday afternoon at the Alabama Tennis Stadium.
"There are no words to describe this win," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "All the wind sprints you run and all the workouts you have are for these occasions, to get you through the fourth hour of play at the SEC Tournament. Our players dug in there at the end. This is one of the best college matches I have ever been a part of and to come out on top is just very, very special."
The unfamiliar role of underdog didn't phase the third-seeded Gators (18-2), who avenged their second of two regular season losses with the victory over the top-seeded Wildcats (23-5). Kentucky won the March 13th meeting 5-2 in Lexington. Florida topped Vanderbilt 4-1 Saturday in the SEC semifinals to make up for the 4-3 regular season setback to the Commodores in Nashville.
Florida knew it was going to be an up hill battle Sunday afternoon after losing the doubles point, since the Gators took the doubles point during the regular season meeting, but lost five of the six singles matches in the 5-2 setback.
"It didn't look good after doubles," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Kentucky outplayed us for three-quarters of the match today, but we just hung in there and found a way to turn it around. It's been windy this whole week, so it's been tough to play great tennis, but we have heart and determination and we needed every ounce of it today to beat this Kentucky team. I'm just tickled to death and incredibly proud."
Senior Zerene Reyes and junior Boglarka Berecz appeared down and out early in their respective singles matches, but both showed their heart and competitive spirit by rallying for wins to help Florida clinch the title, perhaps the most improbable of its 14 league postseason championships. Whitney Benik and Nina Suvak also provided singles victories to lead the Gators to their 12th consecutive victory.
Reyes rallied for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Kim Coventry on court No. 2 in two hours and 35 minutes, earning the win just seconds before Berecz capped her 2-6, 7-5, 7-5 comeback over Danielle Petrisko to clinch the title for Florida. Benik gave the Gators their first victory of the day with a 6-1, 6-2 decision over Joelle Schwenk, while Suvak topped Sarah Foster 6-1, 6-1 on court No. 3.
It looked as though the Wildcats would take a 3-2 lead in the team scoring, as Danielle Petrisko won the first set 6-2 in 31 minutes against Boglarka Berecz on court No. 6. In the second set, Petrisko broke Berecz in the eighth game and held to take a 5-4 lead. But Berecz battled back and refused to end the match there, holding and then taking Petrisko's serve on her third break point chance. Berecz then held at love to close out the second set 7-5 and force a deciding third, where she opened with another break. Petrisko finally evened the match with a break in the fourth game, and the two competitors battled the rest of the way, neither relinquishing her serve until Berecz finally broke through in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead and went to the baseline to serve for the match in two hours and 25 minutes.
Moment before Berecz's clinching win, Reyes completed her comeback against Coventry, who won the regular season match-up 6-2, 6-2. Reyes lost her first set 6-2 to Coventry in 55 minutes and appeared to be in trouble. Reyes, who lost her serve in the final game of the first set, broke right back to begin the second. The next two games were breaks, before Reyes held to take a 3-1 lead. Coventry began the fifth game with two double-faults, and Reyes was able to capitalize with another break. But Reyes couldn't hold in the next game, yet still held a one-break advantage. Coventry held in the seventh game, before Reyes served a love game and then jumped out winning the first three points in the next game and broke on her second attempt to take the second set 6-3 in 58 minutes. Coventry broke to open the third, but her serve started to fail her and Reyes jumped on it to break right back. The next two games also were breaks, before Reyes held in the fifth and didn't look back en route to the win.
"Inch for inch, she's the greatest in the world, I dare to say," Thornqvist said of 4-foot-10 Reyes. "We've had her for four years and I'm going to cry when she's done here because she's given us everything she has. Every time she goes out there she give us a chance to win. I knew that when she found a way to win that second set that we went from underdog to favorite. Then when Boglarka came back from being down and forced a third set, within five minutes we go from being down and out to on top. Zerene is the catalyst of this team."
Whitney Benik evened the team score at 1-all after defeating Joelle Schwenk 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and 17 minutes on court No. 4. The Gator rookie netted her first singles decision of the SEC Tournament, maintaining her composure throughout the victory. Benik broke Schwenk to take the seventh game and first set in 33 minutes, but the Wildcat broke right back to begin the second. However, Benik stayed tough and evened the match in the next game, before holding and then earning another break to take a 3-1 lead. She held the remainder of the way, giving the Gators their first singles win.
Nina Suvak then ripped past 54th-ranked Sarah Foster 6-1, 6-1 on court No. 3 to give UF a 2-1 lead. Foster was the highest-ranking player Suvak has ever defeated during her career. The Gator sophomore opened the match with a break and jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead before Foster broke back to get on the board. Suvak never lost her serve in the second set, breaking Foster in the second and sixth games to earn the win in one hour and 21 minutes.
"I was down after yesterday's loss and the wind really took me off my shots, but today I just pulled it together after losing doubles," Suvak said. "Lolita (Frangulyan) really helped me so much, cheering from the stands because I was a little down and helped me get through the tough moments."
Kentucky tied the team scoring at 2-all after Laura Maurer topped Alex Liles 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 5 position. Liles fought off two match points, but couldn't turn away a third as Maurer held serve to close out the win.
Kentucky jumped out quickly in doubles, taking breaks in its first opportunity on courts No. 1 and 2 and kept the pressure on the Gators the entire time on all three courts. The Wildcats claimed the doubles point with 8-6 victories at No. 3 and No. 2, while the No. 1 spot was on serve when play was abandoned after 57 minutes of play.
Court No. 3 was the first to finish, as the Gator tandem of Boglarka Berecz and Nina Suvak fought off four match points, but couldn't stave off a fifth in an 8-6 loss to Emily Foster and Laura Maurer. After Berecz held to open the match, UK took UF's next two serve and rode a two-break lead into the ninth game, when the Gators broke at love. But the Wildcats broke right back on Berecz's serve and held to hold a 7-3 lead. Suvak then held and Foster served UK into position with two match points, but the Gators fought off both for the break and Berecz held, losing just one point, as the Florida tandem appeared to have the momentum. However, UK jumped out to a 40-0 lead on Maurer's serve and capitalized three points later.
Two minutes later, UF's freshmen team of Whitney Benik and Alex Liles lost to Kim Coventry and Joelle Schwenk 8-6. The Wildcats broke Benik to open the match and held that lead before taking Benik's serve again in the fifth game. The Gators battled back and broke Coventry, but UK took Liles' serve in the next game. Florida dug deep and broke again, losing just one point on Schwenk's serve. However, the Gators were unable to claim another break and UK held the rest of the match for the win.
While the No. 3 seed was a first for Florida, which has never been lower than No. 2 in the 18-year history of the SEC Tournament, the Gators found comfort in the championship match setting, which they have been in 17 times, missing only one title match appearance.
"This title was really special," Thornqvist said. "We lost back to back regular season matches for the first time since 1985-86 and our team really set this tournament as a big goal. They wanted to show everyone that we weren't the third best team in this conference. Not only is Kentucky talented, but they are incredibly tough and it took everything we had to beat them today."
With the Gator men's tennis team winning their respective SEC Tournament title Sunday, it was just the third time in league history that one school captured both postseason crowns in the same season. Florida first accomplished the feat in 2000 and Georgia did so in 2001.
This was the second match-up between Florida and Kentucky in a 2005 SEC Tournament final. The Gator men's basketball team defeated the Wildcats 70-53 in March to capture its first-ever postseason hoops title.
Next up for the both teams is the announcement of the NCAA Championship field on May 4, which will be televised by ESPNews between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. ET. The top 16 teams in the country as determined by the NCAA Committee play host to NCAA First and Second round matches May 13 and 14. The winner of each second round contest advances to Athens, Ga., and the Dan Magill Tennis Complex for the remainder of the championships, May 19 through 28.
SEC Women's Tennis Tournament Championship
Alabama Tennis Stadium
Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Final Score: Florida 4, Kentucky 2
Doubles
No. 1 Sarah Foster/Aibika Kalsarieva (6), UK led Jennifer Magley/Zerene Reyes (9), UF 6-5, on serve (DNF)
No. 2 Kim Coventry/Joelle Schwenk (30), UK def. Whitney Benik/Alex Liles, UF 8-6
No. 3 Emily Foster/Laura Maurer, UK def. Boglarka Berecz/Nina Suvak, UF 8-6*
Singles
No. 1 Aibika Kalsarieva (3), UK led Jennifer Magley (5), UF 7-6 (2), 5-5 (DNF)
No. 2 Zerene Reyes (17), UF def. Kim Coventry (38), UK 2-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 Nina Suvak (116), UF def. Sarah Foster (54), UK 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 Whitney Benik, UF def. Joelle Schwenk, UK 6-1, 6-2
No. 5 Laura Maurer, UK def. Alex Liles, UF 6-2, 6-4
No. 6 Boglarka Berecz (70), UF vs. Danielle Petrisko, UK 2-6, 7-5, 7-5*
Order of Finish: Doubles-2, 3; Singles-4, 3, 5, 2, 6
*Clinched doubles point/dual match
END OF REPORT
