Florida Gators
Ole Miss
No. 5 Women's Tennis Defeats Ole Miss, 6-1
Saturday, March 22, 2008 | Women's Tennis
The fourth-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team continued its mastery at home against Southeastern Conference foes, improving to 142-1 all-time after Friday's 6-1 victory over Ole Miss at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
The Gators (11-1, 5-0 SEC) won the doubles point and followed with quick singles victories from Whitney Benik (Delray Beach, Fla.), Julia Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and Anastasia Revzina (Russia) to help Florida win its eighth consecutive match and its 63rd regular-season home match.
Florida, which was coming off an 11-day break from competition, handed Ole Miss (4-11, 0-5 SEC) its ninth straight loss, while maintaining its overall lead in the league race.
"I thought we looked really rusty in doubles, we only had one good day of doubles practice during the layoff, but we were good enough to overcome it," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "We did really well in singles. We looked tight in some spots, but played our way out of it."
Benik needed just 57 minutes to frustrate Preethi Subramanian on court No. 3, where the Gator senior posted a 6-1, 6-0 victory to improve to 11-1 in dual-match singles play this season and 68-11 in her career. Benik polished off the first set in 26 minutes and won the first four points off Subramanian's serve to open the second en route to giving Florida a 2-0 lead.
"Whitney Benik has been an absolute rock for us for many years," Thornqvist praised. "She's rock-solid mentally. She's a smart competitor and it's a credit to the work she's put into her game and how she's improved. She's one of the first players off the court now and has been the catalyst of our success."
Cohen was the next Gator off the court, as she used a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Karen Nijssen at the No. 1 position. The first six games were a battle with neither able to break until Cohen roared out in the seventh game to break Nijssen at love, which seemed to break the Rebel's spirit, as the Gator rookie rode that momentum for the rest of the match and improve to 10-1 in her young collegiate career.
Revzina provided the clinching dual-match singles victory when she defeated Mimi Renaudin, 6-1, 6-4, on court No. 5. Revzina seemed to be cruising in her first set, using breaks in the second and sixth games to take a 5-1 lead, however, she trailed 0-40 in the seventh game before winning five straight points to close out the first set. The first eight games of the second were on-serve until Revzina broke though in the ninth and held to seal the win one hour and 14 minutes.
Lolita Frangulyan (Bradenton, Fla.) provided the fourth singles win of the day, defeating Soledad Podlpnik, 6-4, 6-4. The second set went back and fourth with both competitors struggling to hold serve. It was the Gator senior who was able to capitalize, however, when she regrouped after losing her serve that tied the set at 4-all, broke Podlpnik and served out to win her 11th consecutive singles match.
Csilla Borsanyi (Hungary) zipped through her opening set against Nika Koukhartchouk in 26 minutes, before the Rebel began the second with a break that put Borsanyi in the role and was forced to play from behind for the rest of the set, where she eventually won in a thrilling tiebreaker to earn the straight-set decision, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8) in one hour and 47 minutes.
Ole Miss claimed its lone point with a win on court No. 3, where Laura van de Stroet downed Megan Alexander (Dallas, Texas), 7-6 (9), 2-6, 1-0 (10-5). Alexander held one set-point in the opener, but couldn't capitalize, as the van de Stroet took the early lead. The Gator sophomore stormed back in impressive fashion, winning the second to force a 10-point super-tiebreaker which was played since the dual match already had been secured.
Florida opened the match capturing the doubles point, which the Gators have done in all 12 matches this season. The No. 2 pair of Whitney Benik and Csilla Borsanyi needed just 35 minutes to earn the day's first win after posting an 8-2 victory over Laura van de Stoet and Mimi Renaudin. The next two matches were much closer and Ole Miss even claimed the decision at the No. 1 spot, where 42nd-ranked Nika Koukhartchouk and Karen Nkjssen topped Megan Alexander and Lolita Frangulyan, 8-6, earning the important break in the 11th game and held serve the rest of the way, fighting off several Gator breakpoints along the way.
One minute later, Julia Cohen and Anastasia Revzina polished off the doubles point with their 8-5 win over Preethi Subramanian and Soledad Podlipnik. The Gator pair had an earlier match-point, but the Rebel duo fought it off and even earned a break in the 12th game to inch to 7-5, but Florida dialed up its fourth break of the match to take the victory in one hour.
The Gators next travel to Mississippi State to play the Bulldogs on Sunday in Starkville, before returning home to host No. 22 Arkansas on Friday, March 28th at 5 p.m.
Women's College Tennis
Ole Miss at No. 4 Florida
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex * Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Final Score: Florida 6, Ole Miss 1
Doubles
1. (42) Nika Koukhartchouk/Karen Nkjssen, UM d. Megan Alexander/Lolita Frangulyan, UF 8-6
2. Whitney Benik/Csilla Borsanyi, UF d. Laura van de Stoet/Mimi Renaudin, UM 8-2
3. (44) Julia Cohen/Anastasia Revzina, UF d. Preethi Subramanian/Soledad Podlipnik, UM 8-5*
Singles
1. (36) Julia Cohen, UF d. Karen Nijssen, UM 6-3, 6-1
2. (28) Csilla Borsanyi, UF d. Nika Koukhartchouk, UM 6-1, 7-6 (10-8)
3. Laura van de Stroet, UM d. (117) Megan Alexander, UF 7-6 (9), 2-6, 1-0 (10-5)
4. Whitney Benik, UF d. Preethi Subramanian, UM 6-1, 6-0
5. (93) Anastasia Revzina, UF d. Mimi Renaudin, UM 6-1, 6-4*
6. Lolita Frangulyan, UF d. Soledad Podlpnik, UM 6-4, 6-4
Order of Finish: Doubles-2, 1, 3*; Singles-4, 1, 5*, 6, 2, 3
*indicates clinching doubles point/dual match
END OF REPORT
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