Florida Gators
#8 North Carolina
Women's Tennis Edges No. 8 North Carolina, 4-3
Sunday, January 28, 2007 | Women's Tennis
The second-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team withstood an early season test as the second-ranked Gators held off No. 8 North Carolina, 4-3, Sunday afternoon at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville. With the win, UF improved to 3-0 while UNC suffered its first loss in dropping to 5-1.
UF now leads the all-time series with North Carolina, 7-1, with the lone UNC victory coming last season in Chapel Hill (4-3). Florida also won its 44th consecutive regular season home match and picked up the 350th home win in the history of the program.
“I thought we played a really good team today,” said UF head coach Roland Thornqvist. “We knew they were going to be tough, but they were even better than I thought. We got a little lucky today. We're not playing as well as we can, but at this time of year it is hard to do. All we ask of our players is they try as hard as they can and we got every little ounce out of them today.”
The doubles point didn't come easy when the Gators were left needing wins on both remaining courts after 14th-ranked Whitney Benik and Nina Suvak were defeated 8-1 by North Carolina's 16th-ranked Sara Anundsen and Jenna Long on court one.
UF's Megan Alexander and Diana Srebrovic forced the issues with a 9-7 victory on court two over UNC's Caitlin Collins and Sanaz Marand (No 24). The win was the first for the Florida tandem this season over a ranked opponent.
A tiebreaker was needed on court three to determine the outcome between Florida's
Csilla Borsanyi and Lolita Frangulyan and North Carolina's Meg Fanjoy and Austin Smith. With the tiebreaker even at two, Borsanyi and Frangulyan reeled off four straight points before ultimately taking a 9-8 (3) victory.
“I think there were a lot of nerves involved in doubles early,” said Thornqvist. “I thought the nerves brought down the level of play, but I was happy to see that we could execute under pressure. The level of play wasn't great, but we did a good job managing our nerves which is what you have to do to win championships.”
In singles play, Borsanyi gave the Gators a quick 2-0 lead when she defeated Collins in 55 minutes on court four, 6-0, 6-1. Alexander built the lead to 3-0 for Florida with a straight-set win of her own on court two over 19th-ranked Katrina Tsang, 6-2, 6-4.
After North Carolina got on the board with a win at the top of the order, senior Nina Suvak dropped her first set to Marand before taking control for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win on court six to clinch the match for UF.
Florida next plays host to South Alabama on Friday, Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. The match will be held at Linder Stadium and admission is free to the public.
Women's College Tennis
No. 2 Florida vs. No. 8 UNC
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Final Score: Florida 4, UNC 3
Doubles
No. 1 Sara Anderson/Jenna Long (16), UNC def. Whitney Benik/Nina Suvak (14), UF, 8-1
No. 2 Megan Alexander/Diana Srebrovic, UF def. Caitlin Collins/Sanaz Marand (24), UNC, 9-7
No. 3 Csilla Borsanyi/Lolita Frangulyan, UF def. Meg Fanjoy/Austin Smith, UNC, 9-8 (3)
Singles
No. 1 Jenna Long (7), UNC def. Diana Srebrovic (11), UF, 7-5, 7-6 (6)
No. 2 Megan Alexander (95), UF def. Katrina Tsang (19), UNC, 6-2, 6-4
No. 3 Austin Smith (33), UNC def. Whitney Benik (78), UF, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2
No. 4 Csilla Borsanyi, UF def. Caitlin Collins, UNC, 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 Sara Anundsen, UNC def. Anastasia Revzina, UF, 7-5, 7-6 (3)
No. 6 Nina Suvak, UF def. Sanaz Marand (73), UNC, 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
Order of Finish: Doubles 1, 2, 3*; Singles 4, 2, 1, 6*, 5, 3
*clinching doubles point/dual match win
END OF REPORT
