Florida Gators
Georgia
No. 6 Gator Women?s Tennis Defeats Georgia, 5-2
Sunday, March 12, 2006 | Women's Tennis
The sixth-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team kept its perfect record in Southeastern Conference action intact with Sunday's 5-2 victory over Eastern Division rival Georgia at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
The Gators moved to 10-1 overall and 4-0 in the SEC while Georgia fell to 6-6 overall and 3-1 league matches. Florida and Vanderbilt are the lone remaining undefeated teams in SEC action.
"I thought we played extremely well today," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Beating Georgia at all three doubles spots is a sign of just how much our team has improved. Georgia has some of the best doubles teams in the country and those wins set the tone for us for the rest of the day. Playing at home in front of our crowd and the heat, we're a very physical team and we're going to make our opponents work for every point. Our players have done a great job of making this place a true home court advantage."
Florida won the doubles point for the ninth time this season, sweeping all three positions before receiving singles victories from Nina Suvak, Whitney Benik, Boglarka Berecz and Diana Srebrovic to capture the dual match win.
Suvak downed Darya Ivanov 6-4, 6-1 on court No. 5 in one hour and six minutes. Ivanov took the early lead by capturing the first break of the match and taking a 3-1 lead. But Suvak broke right back, held and then broke Ivanov to have the advantage. Suvak then lost her serve, but dug deep to captured the important break in the ninth game before serving out for the first set. She jumped out a 3-0 lead behind a pair of breaks before Ivanov got on the board with a break of her own. But Suvak dug deep and captured the final three games to take the victory and collect her 70th career singles win.
"I was struggling a little with my game last week, but I thought I played well on Friday and carried that into today's match," Suvak said. "I feel like I'm hitting forehands the way I should be and my game is improving."
On court No. 3, sophomore Whitney Benik extended her winning streak to 11 consecutive with her 6-1, 6-3 decision over Evgenia Subbotina, who won last year's meeting 7-6, 6-4. Benik earned breaks in the fourth and sixth games of the second set en route to the straight set victory that gave the Gators a 3-0 lead.
"Evgenia and I are familiar with each other because we trained at the same place and I was a little nervous before the match because I lost to her last year," Benik said. "I feel really good with my game right now and was ready for today. This year, my whole game has improved and I'm really excited about where it is."
UF senior Boglarka Berecz provided the clinching team victory with a 6-4, 6-1 win against Caroline Basu on court No. 4. The first set was very close, with the two trading early breaks before Berecz earned another in the sixth game. Basu broke back in the ninth game, but Berecz broke at love to take the first frame. Berecz then earned breaks in the second and sixth games en route to victory.
Diana Srebrovic added another point in the Gator's team column with a 6-3, 6-3 win against Shadisha Robinson at the No. 2 spot. Srebrovic found herself trailing early, as Robinson broke the Gator sophomore to open the match. Midway through the first set, Srebrovic got the match back on-serve after breaking in the fourth game and traded another break. She got the all-important break in the eighth game before serving out for the set. Robinson again earned the first break of the second set, taking Srebrovic's second trip to the baseline and a 3-1 lead. Srebrovic, however, broke right back and then earned another in the seventh game holding the rest of the way for win in one hour and 16 minutes.
Matches on courts No. 1 and 6 continued to battle long after the dual match had been decided. Georgia's Natalie Frazier just nipped Alexis Gordon 6-2, 2-6, 12-10 in a 10-point super tiebreaker that last one hour and 53 minutes, while Georgia's Kelley Hyndman defeated Alex Liles at No. 6 in a 7-6 (6), 6-4 baseline drama that lasted two hours and 14 minutes.
Fueled by an enthusiastic and supportive Gator crowd, Florida swept the three doubles matches. Keri Robison and Nina Suvak got the Gators off to a good start with their solid 8-4 victory over Kelley Hyndman and Shadisha Robinson on court No. 3. That match began with two breaks of serve before Suvak held to break the trend and the Georgia pair followed. Rookie Robison then served out at love before Florida won a long eighth game to earn the break and take a 5-3 lead. Robison served another love game and the Gator tandem broke again in the 12th game to take the victory.
Eleven minutes later, Whitney Benik and Alexis Gordon defeated Natalie Frazier and Caroline Basu 8-5 at the No. 1 spot to clinch the doubles point. The match was on-serve through the first four games, before the next four games all were breaks. Benik ended the pattern by holding a very long service game in which she double-faulted three times. Florida fed off that emotional win and broke in the 10th game to take a 6-4 lead. Gordon then capped off her service game with a powerful serve that Frazier barely connected on. Georgia held before Benik staved off two break points and held to complete the win.
Florida's No. 2 doubles pair of Lolita Frangulyan and Diana Srebrovic rallied for their 9-7 victory against Darya Ivanov and Evgenia Subbotina. Georgia jumped out to an early 3-0 lead behind two breaks before the Gators broke back and Srebrovic held at love to cut the Bulldog lead to 3-2. Georgia then served a love game and broke Frangulyan and held a 5-2 advantage. The Gators broke again, but couldn't capitalize on two game points, as Srebrovic lost her serve. The Bulldogs held and took a commanding 7-3 lead before the Gators came alive. Frangulyan served a love game and later helped starve off two match points in the 13th and 14th games en route to the thrilling comeback win.
Florida has next weekend before continuing its four-match home stand, playing host to Arkansas on Friday, March 24 before entertaining LSU on Sunday, March 26
Women's College Tennis
No. 6 Florida hosts No. 32 Georgia
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex * Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Final Score: Florida 5, Georgia 2
Doubles
No. 1 Whitney Benik/Alexis Gordon, UF def. Natalie Frazier/Caroline Basu, UG 8-5*
No. 2 Lolita Frangulyan/Diana Srebrovic (t-40), UF def. Darya Ivanov/Evgenia Subbotina (58), UG 9-7
No. 3 Keri Robison/Nina Suvak, UF def. Kelley Hyndman/Shadisha Robinson, UG 8-4
Singles
No. 1 Natalie Frazier (22), UG def. Alexis Gordon (35), UF 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (12-10)
No. 2 Diana Srebrovic (6), UF def. Shadisha Robinson (67), UG 6-3, 6-3
No. 3 Whitney Benik (90), UF def. Evgenia Subbotina, UG 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 Boglarka Berecz (36), UF def. Caroline Basu (86), UG 6-4, 6-1*
No. 5 Nina Suvak, UF def. Darya Ivanov, UG 6-4, 6-1
No. 6 Kelley Hyndman, UG def. Alex Liles, UF 7-6 (6), 6-4
Order of Finish: Doubles 3, 1, 2; Singles 5, 3, 4, 2, 1, 6
Match Notes:
*Florida improves to 127-1 all-time at home versus SEC teams, with the lone loss a 4-3 decision against Georgia on April 7, 2002
*The win was UF's 37th consecutive regular season at home
*The Gators improved to 36-9 all-time against the Lady Bulldogs, including a 15-1 record in Gainesville
*Whitney Benik wins her 11th straight singles match
*Nina Suvak collects her 70th career singles victory and her 80th career doubles win
*Alexis Gordon has her 13-match singles win streak snapped (13-2), but posts her 85th career doubles victory
*Alex Liles loses first singles match of season (5-1)
END OF REPORT
