Florida Gators
#23 South Carolina
Women's Tennis Clinches Share of SEC Title with Win Over South Carolina
Saturday, April 14, 2007 | Women's Tennis
Paced by Nina Suvak's 100th career singles victory, the third-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team defeated South Carolina, 4-1, Saturday afternoon and clinched a share of the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship.
The league title is the second consecutive for the Gators, who have won 22 SEC championships in the 28 years of conference play.
This is the sixth SEC championship won by a Gator team this year, with the women's tennis squad following the lead of the football, soccer, volleyball, men's basketball and gymnastics teams.
“We went through a lot of injuries this year and faced different kinds of adversity and being able to battle through so many different issues makes this SEC championship that much sweeter,” Florida coach Roland Thornqvist said. “I'm really proud of this team. We've had to change doubles pairings and have had to alter our singles lineup throughout the season. Winning an SEC title is why these players come to Florida. It never gets old!”
Suvak etched her name into the Florida record book on Saturday, as she earned her 100th career singles victory and became just the sixth Gator in the illustrious history of the program to reach the century win mark in singles and doubles. Suvak, the lone senior on this year's team, joins Nicole Arendt, Dawn Buth, Jessica Lehnhoff, Stephanie Nickitas and Zerene Reyes as the only Florida players ever to win 100 singles and 100 doubles matches during their careers.
Suvak made the milestone win look easy, defeating Megan McGavock 6-3, 6-0 in just under an hour of work. Her victory gave the Gators (19-1, 10-1 SEC) a 2-0 lead in the team competition, as Florida captured the doubles point to open the dual match.
“I couldn't wish for more than what happened for us today,” Suvak said. “I've never been nervous before a match until today. I don't like all the attention and people singling me out. I just prefer to go out there and get my job done. It was a bitter sweet day because I love playing on these courts and in front of our fans. I'm ready for my tennis career to end, but not just yet. We still have a few more things we would like to do before it ends.”
After South Carolina (16-3, 8-3 SEC) won on court No. 2, Diana Srebrovic polished off Gira Schofield on the showcase court, 6-3, 6-4, and gave the Gators a 3-1 lead. Srebrovic earned the early advantage by breaking Schofield to open the second set. The two exchanged breaks midway through the set, but Srebrovic held serve the rest of the way and served out for the straight set victory.
“It doesn't matter how many times you win an SEC title, it's always exciting,” Srebrovic said. “We took the court today with a lot of conference and each of us expected to win. Ultimately, it helped get our minds focused to win today. For me on the court, I feel like I'm improving every match and my game is closer to where I want it to be.”
Whitney Benik provided the finishing touches on the victory, earning a 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 win against Miranda Gutierrez to clinch the dual match and secure the SEC regular-season title. Benik needed just 25 minutes to win the opening set, before Gutierrez found her game and forced a deciding third set. Benik refocused and began the deciding third by holding at love, riding that momentum to a 4-0 lead. Gutierrez prevented the bagel set by breaking Benik in the fifth game, but the Gator junior ended any chance of a Gamecock rally by winning the last two games to take the victory in one hour and 41 minutes.
“I was really on in the first set, while (Gutierrez) shanked a lot of balls,” Benik said. “In the second set, she really stepped up her game and it felt like she aced me every time she served. I knew the score was tight on all of the other courts and I knew I had to get it done. I wanted to be the 'third Musketeer' to win today so I stepped up my game and was able to get the win.”
The other singles matches in progress were abandoned once the dual match had been clinched.
Florida next travels to Lexington, Kent., to compete in the SEC Tournament, which begins Thur., April 19 at the Boone Tennis Complex. The Gators tied for the regular-season with Georgia, but received the No. 2 seed in the 12-team event since the Bulldogs won the head-to-head meeting, 4-3, in Athens back on March 11th. As one of the top-4 seeds, Florida earned a first-round bye and will begin play on Friday.
Women's College Tennis
No. 23 South Carolina at No. 3 Florida
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Final Score: Florida 4, South Carolina 1
Doubles
No. 1 Csilla Borsanyi/Diana Srebrovic, UF vs. Gira Schofield/Ana Marija Zubori (32), SC - DNF
No. 2 Whitney Benik/Nina Suvak, UF d. Laura Ganzer/Megan McGavock, SC 8-3*
No. 3 Megan Alexander/Anastasia Revzina, UF d. Miranda Gutierrez/Natasa Vuckovic, SC 8-4
Singles
No. 1 Diana Srebrovic (18), UF d. Gira Schofield (55), UF 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 Ana Marija Zubori, SC d. Megan Alexander (20), UF 6-3, 6-4
No. 3 Anastasia Revzina, UF vs. Natasa Vuckovic, SC - did not finish
No. 4 Nina Suvak (94), UF d. Megan McGavock, SC 6-3, 6-0
No. 5 Csilla Borsanyi (68), UF vs. Laura Ganzer, SC - did not finish
No. 6 Whitney Benik, UF d. Miranda Gutierrez, SC 6-1, 2-6, 6-1*
Order of Finish: Doubles-3, 2; Singles-4, 2, 1, 6
*clinching doubles point and dual match win
END OF REPORT
