No. 5 Women's Tennis Takes Early Control of SEC Race with Win at No. 3 Georgia

Sunday, March 9

Athens, GA

1:00 PM

Florida Gators

#3 Georgia

No. 5 Women's Tennis Takes Early Control of SEC Race with Win at No. 3 Georgia

Sunday, March 9, 2008 | Women's Tennis

The fifth-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team took an early lead in the race for the overall Southeastern Conference title with Sunday's 5-2 victory over No. 3 Georgia played at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

Florida and Georgia have combined to win 27 of the previous 28 league championships, with the winner of the regular-season match usually earning at least a share of the title.

"We were really tough, resilient and courageous today and I am so proud of how we competed," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Georgia is an excellent, tough team and we needed to be sharp on their courts in order to get the win."

The Gators (10-1, 4-0 SEC), who have captured 22 SEC overall championships, earned the doubles point for the 11th time in as many matches to take the early 1-0 lead in the team scoring.

UF's No. 2 team of Whitney Benik (Delray Beach, Fla.) and Csilla Borsanyi (Hungary) pair together for the third time in dual match play and the first since the opening two competitions and posted an impressive 8-0 shutout over Naoko Ueshima and Monika Dancevic. The Gator tandem of freshman Julia Cohen (Philadelphia, Pa.) and sophomore Anastasia Revzina (Russia) improved to 8-0 after downing Cameron Ellis and Adrienne Eslberry, 8-5, on court No. 3 and provided the clinching doubles point. Florida's No. 1 duo of Megan Alexander (Dallas, Texas) and Marrit Boonstra (The Netherlands) lost for the first time in 11 matches together, dropping a tough 8-4 decision to Kelley and Yvette Hyndman.

"Our doubles teams weren't as sharp today as they have been, but our depth made a big difference," Thornqvist said.

Georgia (10-2, 3-1 SEC) evened the match at 1-all when Yvette Hyndman topped Borsanyi, 6-2, 6-4 at the No. 2 spot. The Gators quickly regained the lead, however, when Cohen earned a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Kelley Hyndman on the showcase court, as she improved to 9-1 in her young collegiate career.

Boonstra followed with a 6-4, 6-3 win on court No. 5 against Cameron Eillis, lifting Florida's lead to 3-1, with the Gator rookie improving to 10-1 in her career.

The remaining three matches were all entering their respective third sets when Boonstra provided UF's third victory and it was Revzina who emerged first her 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 win over Adrienne Elsberry on court No. 6 to provide the clinching heroics.

Ueshima followed later with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 decision over UF's Alexander, before Benik closed out the scoring with her 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory over Dancevic on court No. 4.

"We played really well in the third set at number 6 and 4, better than we had during any part of the first two sets," Thornqvist shared. "I thought we really stepped up our game and our toughness came through."

Florida has a two-week break before returning to action on Friday, March 21, when the Gators play host to Ole Miss beginning at 5 p.m. Admission to all regular-season matches at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex is FREE!

Fans attending the match can park in the Law School parking lot adjacent to the Ring Tennis Complex after 4:30 p.m. Parking is still restricted, however, in the handicap and designated car pool spots.

Women's College Tennis

No. 5 Florida at No. 3 Georgia

Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Final Score: Florida 5, Georgia 2

Doubles

1. Kelley Hyndman/Yvette Hyndman, UG d. #5 Megan Alexander/Marrit Boonstra, UF, 8-4

2. Csilla Borsanyi/Whitney Benik, UF d. Naoko Ueshima/Monika Dancevic, UG, 8-0

3. #35 Julia Cohen/Anastasia Revzina, UF d. Cameron Ellis/Adrienne Eslberry, UG 8-5*

Singles

1. #42 Julia Cohen, UF d. #76 Kelley Hyndman, UG 6-2, 6-4

2. #96 Yvette Hyndman, UG d. #29 Csilla Borsanyi, UF 6-2, 6-4