No. 4 Florida W-Tennis Defeats No. 13 Arkansas, 5-2

Friday, March 28

Gainesville, FL

5:00 PM

Florida Gators

#13 Arkansas

No. 4 Florida W-Tennis Defeats No. 13 Arkansas, 5-2

Saturday, March 29, 2008 | Women's Tennis

The fourth-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team took one step closer in its quest for the Southeastern Conference regular-season title after earning a 5-2 victory over 13^th-ranked Arkansas on Friday evening at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.

The Gators, who improved to 13-1 overall and 7-0 in SEC action, again road the strength of its doubles teams and the depth of its singles lineup in taking a two-game lead in the race for the league championship by handing the SEC Western-Division leading Lady Razorbacks their second conference loss, as Arkansas fell to 12-6 overall and 5-2 in SEC play.

Florida next plays host to No. 27 LSU on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. The Lady Tigers (10-7, 3-4 SEC) are coming off a 5-2 loss to South Carolina on Friday evening in Columbia. Sunday's match is the regular-season home finale and the Gator seniors will be recognized in a pre-match ceremony. Admission to all regular-season home matches is free. Parking restrictions on campus during the weekend are lifted, however, tennis fans are asked to be mindful of designated handicap and car pool spots.

Florida's doubles teams swung the early moment of the dual match in favor of the Gators, who were able to sweep all three positions and take a 1-0 lead in the team scoring. Anastasia Revzina, Whitney Benik and Lolita Frangulyan then punched in straight-set singles victories at the Nos. 5, 4 and 6 positions, respectively, which gave Florida its 10^th consecutive dual-match win. Megan Alexander polished off the team scoring with her hard-fought win on court No. 3, after Arkansas took the decisions at the other two positions.

“I thought Arkansas was the best team we've faced all year and I am real happy with the outcome,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “I was extremely pleased with how we played at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles. Our No. 3 doubles team did not play well until the last two games of the match, but I told them that most teams play great in the beginning and not as good when it matters. We found a way to play our best at the end of the match to win the (team doubles) point. We need to play sharper at the No. 3 spot and I think we can do that.”

UF's top doubles team of Alexander and Marrit Boonstra provided the first decision of the match, downing Aurelija Miseciviute and Ela Kaluder, 8-3. There were eight service breaks in the 11 games, with Alexander holding serve in the third and ninth games before Boonstra served out for the win, capitalizing on the second match-point.

The tandem of Julia Cohen and Revzina turned in the second decision, giving Florida the doubles point with their 9-7 victory against Audrey Bordeleau and Anouk Tigu. The first six games were played on-serve, before the teams traded breaks. Revzina held in the ninth game, but Arkansas held in the next and then broke the Gators to start a trend of four consecutive breaks in the match. UF captured the late momentum by earning that last of those at love, and Cohen lost just one point on her next serve, giving UF an 8-7 lead. In the 16^th game, Revzina polished off the decision with a backhand volley winner to end the match in 57 minutes.

The battle on court No. 2 continued after the doubles point had been secured, as Benik and Csilla Borsanyi held a 4-2 lead, up one break entering the seven game. That's when a trend of five consecutive service breaks began and Arkansas' Maryori Franco and Nanar Airapetian were able to get the match back on-serve after Airapetian held in the 12^th game to even the score at 6-all. Borsanyi then held, as Benik ripped a winner at the net, before the Gator pair continued their strong play and earned one last break to take the 8-6 victory in one hour and seven minutes.

In singles action, Revzina was the first Gator off the court, needing 53 minutes to put away Nanar Airapetian, 6-1, 6-2. The UF sophomore was denied the opening-set bagel when Airapetian was able to hold serve for the first time in the sixth game, forcing Revzina to serve out for the set. Revzina lost her serve just once during the impressive win, falling in the fourth game of the second, where Airapetian evened the set at 2-all but failed to win another game.

Florida took a 3-0 lead in the team scoring when senior Whitney Benik marched past Maryori Franco, 6-3, 6-3. The first set featured six breaks, including the last two games of the frame. The two traded early breaks in the second and the rest of the set was played on-serve until Benik collected the break in the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and held to take the win and improve to 13-1 in dual-match singles play this year.

Lolita Frangulyan held steady throughout her match against Audrey Bordeleau and earned the hard-fought 6-4, 6-3 decision to collect her 13^th consecutive singles victory and give Florida the clinching dual-match point. Bordeleau jumped out to a 3-0 to begin the match, up one break before the Gator senior broke through I the seventh game and held to even the score at 4-all. Frangulyan then broke again in the ninth game and held to take the first frame. She then began the second with a break, as neither competitor was able to hold-serve in the first four games. After both did in the next pair of games, Frangulyan earned another break in the seven game, held to take a 5-3 lead and then broke Bordeleau at love to take the win.

“Lolita's opponent played really well in the first few games of each set, but Lolita stuck with her game plan and was able to wear her down at the end,” Thornqvist said. “I'm real proud of our two seniors (Whitney Benik the other) and how they continually have gone out there and just won this year.”

Ela Kaluder then got Arkansas on the board with a 6-3, 6-3 decision over Csilla Borsanyi, as eyes then turned to courts No. 1 and No. 3, where exciting action continued.

The first set on the showcase did not disappoint fans, as UF freshman Julia Cohen gave Aurelija Miseviciute, the nation's No. 1-ranked singles player, everything she could handle. Cohen held an early brake before Miseviciute broke back in the sixth game that started a seven-game break-trend, which both having opportunities to snap the streak, but neither did until the final two games, resulting in a tiebreaker, where Miseviciute won the first four points en route to taking the first set and the momentum, which she used to capture the 7-6 (1), 6-1 decision.

Alexander then battled past Anouk Tigu 6-7 (7), 6-1, 1-0 (10-8) in two hours and two minutes. There were huge momentum swings in the third-set 10-point super-tiebreaker, where the Gator sophomore won the first four points, before Tigu ripped off the next seven and held a 7-4 lead with two serves to come. Alexander, who appear to be down and out, stepped up her game and won the next five points and took a 9-7 lead. Tigu fought off one match point before Alexander held to end the dual match and claim the win in two hours and two minutes.

“Megan has put in a lot of extra time into her game and I'm so happy to see that it has paid off,” Thornqvist said. “It's nice to see her be rewarded with a win against a really good player after all of her extra work.”

Women's College Tennis

No. 13 Arkansas at No. 4 Florida

Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex * Gainesville, Fla.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Final Score: Florida 5, Arkansas 2

Doubles

1. Megan Alexander/Marrit Boonstra (8), UF d. (32) Aurelija Miseciviute/Ela Kaluder, UA 8-3

2. Whitney Benik/Csilla Borsanyi, UF d. Maryori Franco/Nanar Airapetian, UA 8-6

3. (44) Julia Cohen/Anastasia Revzina, UF d. (50) Audrey Bordeleau/Anouk Tigu, UA 9-7*

Singles

1. (1) Aurelija Miseciviute, UA d. (36) Julia Cohen, UF 7-6 (1), 6-1

2. (122) Ela Kaluder, UA d. (28) Csilla Borsanyi, UF 6-3, 6-3