Women's Tennis Continues Success at Two Events

Friday, November 3

Columbus, OH

12:00 AM

Florida Gators

National Indoor Championships

Women's Tennis Continues Success at Two Events

Saturday, November 4, 2006 | Women's Tennis

The University of Florida women's tennis team enjoyed success at two different events, advancing deeper into the draws of the ITA National Indoor Championships held in Columbus, Ohio, and the SEC Coaches Fall Classic, held in Peachtree City, Ga.

The lone setback on Friday came in the premier event, where Gator junior Diana Srebrovic lost to Miami's top-ranked Audra Cohen, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the National Indoor Championships, thus failing to become only the third repeat champion in the event's illustrious history. Srebrovic began the day with an impressive 6-3, 6-3 win over Clemson's Carole Salge in the round of 16.

Also at The Racquet Club of Columbus, the Gator doubles team of Whitney Benik and Nina Suvak advanced to the semifinals of the consolation draw, where they will face Notre Dame's No. 1-seeded pair of Christian and Catrina Thompson on Saturday. Benik and Suvak earned an 8-6 win in the quarterfinals over Auburn-Montgomery's Kamila Dadakhodjeava and Tereza Veverkova.

"We played much better in every facet of the game than we did in Thursday's first round matches," UF associate head coach Dave Balogh said. "In doubles, Whitney (Benik) and Nina (Suvak) were a completely different team than the one that took the court earlier in the tournament. We were just a lot tougher. Their match was tied at 5-all before they just ran away wit the last three games for the win."

"Diana may have had first-round jitters during her match on Thursday, but definitely got it out of her system during her round of 16 match today," said Balogh of Srebrovic's early match. "Against Carole Salge, she raised her game and played at another level.”

At the SEC Coaches Fall Classic in Peachtree City, Ga., the Gator freshmen highlighted the team's play, as Megan Alexander and Csilla Borsanyi (pronounced CHILL-uh bore-SAN-ee) posted huge upsets with each knocking off a top-25 ranked opponent in the quarterfinals of the Flight A singles draw. Alexander began the day with a double-bagel win, 6-0, 6-0 over LSU's Mykala Hedberg before topping Vanderbilt's 24^th-ranked Taka Bertrand, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Borsanyi opened with a tough 3-6, 6-1, 7-5 decision over Ole Miss' Ilona Somers prior to a 7-6, 6-2 victory over Vanderbilt's 17^th-ranked Amanda Fish.

Gator junior Lolita Frangulyan (pronounced fraun-GOO-lee-on) also collected two singles victories Friday, netting wins over Alabama's Sofia Ayala, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 and Auburn's Whitney Chappell, 6-4, 6-3, to reach the semifinals of the Flight B draw.

"We talked a lot before this tournament and throughout the fall about being a tougher team," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Not only did we play well today, but we played tougher. Everyone found themselves in a tight, tense position during a point in their match, but everyone fought back. I'm real excited about what I saw on the court."

The ITA National Indoor Championships is the second of three national tournaments for singles and doubles during the 2006-07 collegiate tennis season.

ITA National Indoor Championships

The Racquet Club of Columbus

Columbus, Ohio

Friday, November 03, 2006

UF Results Only

Singles, Second Round (round of 16)

(7) Diana Srebrovic, UF def. Carole Salge, Clemson 6-3, 6-3

Singles, Quarterfinals

(2) Audra Cohen, Miami def. (7) Diana Srebrovic, UF 6-4, 6-2

Doubles, Consolation First Round (quarterfinals)

Whitney Benik/Nina Suvak, UF def. Kamila Dadakhodjeava/Tereza Veverkova, Auburn-Montgomery 8-6

SEC Coaches Fall Classic