Florida Gators
Baylor (NCAA Quarterfinals)
No. 4 UF Women?s Tennis Blanks No. 5 Baylor 4-0 in NCAA Quarterfinals
Saturday, May 20, 2006 | Women's Tennis
The fourth-seeded University of Florida women's tennis team waited out a three-hour rain delay before defeating fifth-seeded Baylor 4-0 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships late Friday evening at the Taube Tennis Center.
The Gators (25-1) marched into the semifinal round for the 18th time in the last 20 years while extending their current win streak to 19, the second longest active run in the country. That win streak is second only to the one amassed by UF's semifinal opponent, Stanford (28-0), which defeated Duke 4-0 in its quarterfinal contest to win its NCAA-record 84th consecutive and its 105th straight home match.
Florida plays top-seeded and two-time defending NCAA champion Stanford on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET (Noon PT). Stanford holds a 13-11 edge in the series versus the Gators, but carries a 7-2 record in NCAA matches. The last meeting between UF and SU was a 4-3 Gator victory in the final of the 2003 NCAA Championships - the last time the Cardinal lost.
The other semifinal match features third-seeded Southern California against seventh-seeded Miami.
Florida got off to a better start in Friday's match against Baylor (28-4) then during Thursday's Round of 16 victory, earning the first team point of the dual match by capturing doubles wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.
Senior Alexis Gordon then knocked off Baylor's sixth-ranked Zuzana Zemenova, who is the defending NCAA Singles champion, 6-3, 6-0, to give Florida a 2-0 lead. Junior Nina Suvak got back on the winning track by posting a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Iva Mihaylova on court No. 5 before sophomore Alex Liles provided the clinching win for the second straight match with her 6-2, 6-4 decision over Zuzana Krchnakova at the No. 6 spot to end the dual match at 12:14 a.m. PT (3:14 a.m. ET).
“I thought our play today, particularly in doubles, was significantly better than it was in (Thursday's) match against UCLA,” said UF head coach Roland Thornqvist, who earned his 200th career coaching victory and his 125th with the Gators. “In singles we were led by Alexis (Gordon) at No. 1 against the defending NCAA singles champion. Overall, all eight players really contributed. All eight players competed hard and fought. That's what's really neat about this team.”
Gordon held to open the match, before she and Zemenova traded breaks. Gordon earned another and held to take a 4-1 lead. The two again traded breaks and the rest of the first set remained on-serve as the Gator senior took the early advantage. She then raced out to win the first four games of the second set, before staving off several game-points to earn the break in a long fifth game. Gordon served out for the match and recorded her 12th consecutive singles victory while ending Zemenova's 14-match win streak.
“I felt really good throughout the entire match,” Gordon said. “I didn't think about who did what last year, I just wanted to focus and stick to my game.”
Suvak rebounded strong from Thursday's singles loss that halted her 16-match win streak, posting a 6-3, 6-1 victory against Iva Mihaylova to give UF a 3-0 lead. Suvak earned breaks in the fourth and sixth games of the opening set, eventually serving out for the first frame before collecting three more breaks in the second set to earn the 80th singles victory of her career.
“It's always tough to have that same level of confidence after loss, but I just wanted to stay focused and play hard for my teammates,” Suvak said. “I was ready for a long match. I came out strong and was able to finish. Moving on to the semifinals is awesome. Our chemistry is so good and we fight for each other, we push each other and it's a great feeling to go into a match with them behind you.”
Liles provided the clinching victory for the second straight match, downing Zuzana Krchnakova 6-2, 6-4 on court No. 6 to collect her ninth consecutive singles victory. Liles found herself down a break early in the second set and didn't get the frame back on-serve until the eighth game where she evened the score at 4-all and then held in a long service game. Liles jumped out to win the first three points of Krchnakova's serve, taking the win on her second match-point opportunity.
“Hearing everyone cheering 'Go Gators,' really kept me focused and fired up,” Liles said. “I knew not to stop fighting.”
Florida earned the doubles point for the 21st time this season, as Gordon and Whitney Benik defeated Zuzana Cerna and Daniela Covello 8-6. Each player held serve to start the match before the next four games were breaks. Gordon held at love to end the trend before the Gator pair held triple-break point in the next game but couldn't capitalize as Cerna was able to hold. Benik then lost her serve, but helped break Covello to even the match at 6-all. Gordon held before the Gator pair was able to break Cerna for the second time in the match to earn the 8-6 victory.
“Whitney (Benik) and I just kept fighting,” Gordon said. “The (Gator) men's team gave us a great boost with their cheering and support and that helped so much during our match.”
The Gator's No. 2 team of Lolita Frangulyan and Diana Srebrovic then posted the clinching doubles victory with their 8-4 decision over Iva Mihaylova and Klara Zrustova. The match was on-serve entering the 10th game, where the Gator pair broke Mihaylova and Frangulyan held to give UF a 7-4 lead before breaking Zrustova on their second match point, as the UF duo improved their dual match record to 22-3, becoming the winningest No. 2 doubles team in Gator history.
NCAA Women's Tennis Team Championships
Quarterfinals
Taube Tennis Center
Stanford, Calif.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Complete Team Results – Quarterfinals
No. 1 Stanford def. No. 8 Duke 4-0
No. 4 Florida def. No. 5 Baylor 4-0
No. 3 Southern California def. No. 11 Northwestern 4-3
No. 7 Miami def. No. 2 Notre Dame 4-0
Individual UF Results
Final Score: Florida 4, Baylor 0
Doubles
No. 1 Whitney Benik/Alexis Gordon (24), UF def. Zuzana Cerna/Daniela Covello, Baylor 8-6
No. 2 Lolita Frangulyan/Diana Srebrovic, UF def. Iva Mihaylova/Klara Zrustova, Baylor 8-4*
No. 3 Zuzana Krchnakova/Zuzana Zemenova, Baylor led Keri Robison/Nina Suvak, UF 6-5 DNF
Singles
No. 1 Alexis Gordon (14), UF def. Zuzana Zemenova (6), Baylor 6-3, 6-0
No. 2 Diana Srebrovic (9), UF vs. Zuzana Cerna (16), Baylor 7-5, 3-6 DNF
No. 3 Whitney Benik, UF led Daniela Covello, Baylor 6-0, 2-6, 3-2 DNF
No. 4 Boglarka Berecz (50), UF led Klara Zrustova (95), Baylor 7-5, 1-2 DNF
No. 5 Nina Suvak, UF def. Iva Mihaylova, Baylor 6-3, 6-1
No. 6 Alex Liles, UF def. Zuzana Krchnakova, Baylor 6-2, 6-4*
*clinched doubles point/dual match
Order of Finish: Doubles 1, 2; Singles 1, 5, 6
Match Notes:
*Start of match delayed three hours due to rain
*Florida advances to the NCAA Semifinals for the 18th time in the last 20 seasons
*The Gators won their 19th consecutive dual matches
*Roland Thornqvist earned his 200th career coaching victory and his 125th with the Gators
*Alexis Gordon won her 12th straight singles match while snapping Zuzana Zemenova's 14-match winning streak
*Alex Liles won her ninth straight singles matches and clinched the dual match for the second straight contest
END OF REPORT
