Florida Gators
Tennessee
Alexis Gordon Leads No. 6 Women?s Tennis to Sweep over Tennessee
Saturday, March 11, 2006 | Women's Tennis
University of Florida senior Alexis Gordon (Windsor, Conn.) won her 13th consecutive singles match helping the sixth-ranked Gators sweep Tennessee, 7-0, in their Southeastern Conference home opener at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
Florida, which improved to 9-1 overall and 3-0 in SEC play, extended its impressive home record against league opponents to 126-1 all-time. The win also helped the Gators capture their 36th consecutive regular season home match while improving to 29-0 all-time against the Lady Vols (5-7, 2-1 SEC), who had their three-match win streak halted.
While Florida earned its sixth sweep of the season, the toughness of the match wasn't reflected in the final score.
“Every year, Tennessee always gets the most out of their players and they did tonight. We knew we had to be ready to fight because Tennessee never lays down and stops playing regardless of the score,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “I'm happy where we are because we're getting better every day. We've been talking about playing with more passion and more fight and that paid off for us in tonight's match. In the past, I think we would have gotten down on ourselves after losing a couple of those games, but all we have improved our body language and showing fight and determination.”
After winning the doubles point for the eighth time this season, Alexis Gordon gave the Gators a 2-0 lead after her impressive 6-1, 6-1 win against Victoria Jones at the No. 1 position. The powerful lefty opened the match holding her first two service games at love. She then lost just one point on Jones' serve in the fourth game to take an early break, which she held en route to winning the first set in 25 minutes. Gordon broke to open the second set, but lost her serve in the next game before stealing one back in the ensuing game to cruise to the straight set victory.
“I felt really good out there,” Gordon said. “(Victoria Jones) gave me the shots that I wanted to play and I just kept moving my feet. I played pretty consistent and that surprised me a little because I hadn't been playing as well in practice.”
“Alexis played phenomenal tennis today,” Thornqvist praised. “Alex Liles also played well for us.”
Sophomore Alex Liles improved her singles record to 5-0 this season after defeating Ghizela Schutte 6-4, 6-3 at the No. 5 position to give the Gators a 3-0 lead. Liles dug deep midway through her second set after losing her serve in the fifth game. She broke right back and held before breaking Schutte in the eighth game and serving out for the match. Schutte showed a lot of fight throughout the match, staving off three set points in the first before succumbing to Liles, who broke her to take the first set.
Gator sophomore Whitney Benik improved to 10-0 in dual match singles play with Friday's hard-fought 3-6, 6-1, 6-0 victory against Blakeley Griffith on court No. 3. In the first set, Benik held a one-break advantage early, but Griffith struck back with breaks in the sixth and eighth games before serving out. Benik looked like a completely different player for the rest of the match, winning 12 of the next 13 games to take the three-set victory and clinch the dual match for the Gators.
After easily winning the first set 6-1 on court No. 6, Lolita Frangulyan was forced to rally against Stephanie Harris in the second to avoid a third set. The Gator sophomore was down an early break, trailing 3-0 and played catch-up the rest of the set, earning a break in the seventh game and another in a long 11th game before serving out for the straight set victory, 6-1, 7-5.
On court No. 4, Nina Suvak and Ghizela Schutte battled fiercely, as eight of the nine first games were breaks. Suvak was the benefactor of holding once, which she did in the eighth game before taking the first set off Schutte's serve. The opening three games of the second set were on-serve before Suvak broke to take a 3-1 lead, but that sparked a run of six straight breaks. Suvak served for the match, leading 5-3, but couldn't close it out. Schutte held on to her serve in a long 10th game and neither could break again, entering a tiebreak where Suvak jumped out to a 3-1 lead with the serve, but Schutte broke back and the two played even tennis until Schutte held a 7-6 lead with the serve after a mini-break. But Suvak dug deep and avoided a third set by winning three straight points to take the victory.
Diana Srebrovic capped the Florida sweep with a 6-4, 7-5 win over Melissa Schaub at the No. 2 spot in just under two hours. The two traded breaks early in the first set before Srebrovic struck with a break in the ninth game and held to take the first set. The second remained on-serve through six games, with Srebrovic broke in the seventh to start a five-game trend. Srebrovic staved off two game points in the 11th game to earn the final break of the match, as she held in the 12th to take the straight-set win.
The Gators began by winning the doubles point for the eighth time this season, sweeping all three positions in less than 50 minutes by identical 8-3 scores.
The No. 3 doubles team of Keri Robison and Nina Suvak earned the first victory of the day with their win over Stephanie Harris and Samantha Orlin in 34 minutes. The match began with a pair of breaks before Suvak lost just one point on her serve to hold. The Gators broke again in the sixth game, but UT broke right back. The UF tandem won the next four points, earning the break before Robison held to give the Gators a 6-3 lead and they road en route to the 8-3 victory.
The Gators clinched the doubles point on court No. 2, where Lolita Frangulyan and Diana Srebrovic never lost their serve and earned breaks in the sixth and eighth games to take the 8-3 win over Blakeley Griffith and Victoria Jones. Whitney Benik and Alexis Gordon capped the doubles sweep with a hard-fought win against Melissa Schaub and Ghizela Schutte. UF earned the first break of the match in the fourth game and held that until Benik lost her serve in the seventh game. The Gators, however, broke right back and Gordon held onto a long service game in the ninth to give UF a 6-3 lead, winning the final two games to take the match.
Also during the singles portion of the match, UF associate head coach Dave Balogh received word that his wife Melissa went into labor and he left to meet her at the hospital.
Florida returns to action on Sunday, playing host to SEC-rival Georgia beginning at 1 p.m.
Women's College Tennis
No. 6 Florida hosts No. 31 Tennessee
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Final Score: Florida 7, Tennessee 0
Doubles
No. 1 Whitney Benik/Alexis Gordon, UF def. Melissa Schaub/Ghizela Schutte, UT 8-3
No. 2 Lolita Frangulyan/Diana Srebrovic (t-40), UF def. Blakeley Griffith/Victoria Jones, UT 8-3*
No. 3 Keri Robison/Nina Suvak, UF def. Stephanie Harris/Samantha Orlin, UT 8-3
Singles
No. 1 Alexis Gordon (35), UF def. Victoria Jones, UT 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 Diana Srebrovic (6), UF def. Melissa Schaub, UT 6-4, 7-5
No. 3 Whitney Benik (52), UF def. Blakeley Griffith, UT 3-6, 6-1, 6-0*
No. 4 Nina Suvak, UF def. Ghizela Schutte, UT 6-3, 7-6 (7)
No. 5 Alex Liles, UF def. Samantha Orlin, UT 6-4, 6-3
No. 6 Lolita Frangulyan, UF def. Stephanie Harris, UT 6-1, 7-5
Order of Finish: Doubles 3, 2, 1; Singles 1, 5, 3, 6, 4, 2
*Clinched doubles point/dual match
END OF REPORT
