Florida Gators
Stetson
No. 4 Women's Tennis Sweeps Stetson in Season-Opener, 7-0
Thursday, January 24, 2008 | Women's Tennis
The University of Florida women's tennis launched its 2007-08 season in impressive fashion, sweeping Stetson, 7-0, on Wednesday at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
The fourth-ranked Gators needed 31 minutes to capture the doubles point and sophomore Megan Alexander (Dallas, Texas) clinched the dual match with her 48-minute singles victory, as Florida won its 23rd consecutive season-opener, while extending its regular-season home winning streak to 57 matches.
“It feels like we've been practicing forever so it felt great to finally get on the court and compete under the lights for real,” said head coach Roland Thornqvist, who collected his 150th win with Florida. “When I'm this eager to play, I'm sure our players were even more anxious to get the season rolling and they played like it. I was extremely impressed with our performances across the board.
Florida's No. 2 doubles team of Whitney Benik (Delray Beach, Fla.) and Csilla Borsanyi (Hungary) zipped past Natalie Gorham and Katherine Nowicki, 8-0, in just 25 minutes, as Borsanyi held at love to give the pair a 6-0 lead before the Gators broke and Benik held to earn the first victory of the match.
Six minutes later, Julia Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Lolita Frangulyan (Bradenton, Fla.) polished off Breanna Atkinson and Katherine St. Clair, 8-1, and Florida earned its first dual match point of the season, as Cohen served out at love to complete the decision.
The No. 1 doubles match didn't last much longer, as Alexander and Marrit Boonstra (The Netherlands) downed Valentina Galbarini and Unnati Purushotham, 8-2, to complete the sweep on the doubles courts.
“We had new doubles pairings and I liked what I saw,” Thornqvist said. “Our serves and returns were good and that's the one thing you can control with new teams. Overall, our doubles looked really good. In singles, we didn't look rusty at all. We have to try and repeat this performance on Thursday when we play a very good Central Florida team.”
The Gators entertain UCF on Thursday beginning at 5 p.m., when Florida continues its busy season-opening slate of three matches in four days.
In her first collegiate singles match, Boonstra needed just 37 minutes to defeat Catherine Canady, 6-0, 6-0 and start a Gator run of three consecutive double-bagel wins.
“I really enjoyed my first college experience. My serve was going really well, especially in doubles,” Boonstra said. “In singles, my forehand put a lot of pressure on her because of her size and she had a tough time with it.”
Benik followed with her third career shutout singles victory, topping Purushotham on court No. 3 in 42 minutes to record her team-leading 79th career singles match.
Alexander provided the clinching win, netting the second double-bagel her young career as she defeated Gorham on court No. 4.
“I thought this was a very good start to our season,” Alexander said of the season-opening win. “I was really focusing on working the points, not going for winners too soon and really working on my composure. I just focused on the next point and getting ready for that.”
Helping the Gators complete the sweep was Frangulyan, Cohen and Borsanyi, who tallied straight-set wins on their respective singles courts.
Frangulyan, who entered Wednesday's contest fresh off her singles title at the Freeman Memorial Classic earlier this month, won her sixth consecutive singles match by topping Megan Jones, 6-3, 6-2, at the No. 6 spot.
Moments later Cohen downed Galbarini on the showcase court, 6-1, 6-0. Galbarinin held to open the match, before the Gator rookie won the next 12 games to earn the impressive victory in her collegiate debut on the showcase court.
“It felt great to be out there on the courts competing for Florida,” Cohen shared. “I love being a Gator and being surrounded by such great teammates and coaches.”
Borsanyi was involved in the final match on the court, but the Gator sophomore walked off with the 6-2, 6-1 victory over Atkinson in one hour and nine minutes while playing at a career-high No. 2 spot in the lineup.
Women's College Tennis
Stetson at No. 4 Florida
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Final Score: Florida 7, Stetson 0
Doubles
No. 1 Megan Alexander/Marrit Boonstra, UF d. Valentina Galbarini/Unnati Purushotham, SU 8-2
No. 2 Whitney Benik/Csilla Borsanyi, UF d. Natalie Gorham/Katherine Nowicki, SU 8-0
No. 3 Julia Cohen/Lolita Frangulyan, UF d. Breanna Atkinson/Katherine St. Clair, SU, 8-1*
Singles
No. 1 Julia Cohen, UF d. Valentina Galbarini, SU 6-1, 6-0
No. 2 Csilla Borsanyi (59), UF d. Breanna Atkinson, SU 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Whitney Benik, UF d. Unnati Purushotham, SU 6-1, 6-0
No. 4 Megan Alexander (37), UF d. Natalie Gorham, SU 6-0, 6-0*
No. 5 Marrit Boonstra, UF d. Catherine Canady, SU 6-0, 6-0
No. 6 Lolita Frangulyan, UF d. Megan Jones, SU 6-3, 6-2
Order of Finish: Doubles-2, 3*, 1; Singles-5, 3, 4*, 6, 1, -2
*clinching doubles point/dual match point
END OF REPORT
