2007-08 Marked Another Successful Season for the Gators
Sunday, June 1, 2008 | Women's Tennis
The 2007-08 Florida women's tennis team survived early-season setbacks and mounted a valiant charge toward collecting championships, coming away with the program's 23rd Southeastern Conference regular-season title in the 29-year history of the event, while marching into the semifinals of the NCAA Championships for the 19th time in the last 22 years.
Injuries dwindled the Gators' senior trio to a just two, with only Whitney Benik earning a spot in the dual match lineup by season's end, as Florida compiled a 24-3 overall record, including an 11-0 mark in conference action to produce the 17th undefeated league ledger in school history.
Benik and fellow senior Lolita Frangulyan guided the 2007-08 Gators to a perfect 11-0 home record to cap a 53-0 home mark during their four-year career, as they became just the second Gator senior class to go undefeated at home during their collegiate tenure, joining the 1998 senior class of Bonnie Bleecker and Dawn Buth, who helped the Gators compile a 44-0 record in Gainesville.
Individually, Benik and Frangulyan surpassed the 100-win mark in their respective doubles careers, while Benik tallied 99 victories on the singles court.
Benik anchored the middle of Florida's dual-match lineup, settling in at the No. 4 singles spot and the No. 2 doubles position, posting a team-leading 21-4 singles record along with a 21-3 doubles mark. She was, however, surrounded by youth, as the 2007-08 roster did not feature a junior, with three sophomores and a pair of freshmen hitting the court each contest.
The team's doubles' performances became the foundation for its success, as the Gators produced a combined 65-8 dual match record, losing the doubles point just one time. That occurrence, unfortunately, came in the season-ending 4-2 loss to UCLA in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships, where the Bruins carried the momentum onto the singles court and they held off the Gators. Florida was the only team during UCLA's run to its first-ever NCAA title to collect a point in the team scoring, as sophomores Megan Alexander and Anastasia Revzina earned singles victories.
Those two players will be counted on heavily as the veterans of the 2008-09 squad. Alexander battled through injuries and played the majority of the spring at the No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles positions, earning All-America honors in the doubles court where she tallied a 29-10 overall record, including a 20-4 spot in team play. Revzina held steady at the No. 6 singles and No. 3 doubles positions where she produced a combined 41-3 combined dual match mark. Revzina paired in dual match-play with Julia Cohen, who earned recognition as the 2008 SEC Rookie of the Year and the ITA South Region Freshman of the Year. Alexander teamed with freshman Marrit Boonstra atop the doubles lineup, earning a spot in the NCAA Doubles Championships. Boonstra also suited up at the No. 5 singles position, where she posted a 15-3 record. Sophomore Csilla Borsanyi completed the primary dual-match lineup, getting the nod for the No. 2 spot in singles and doubles.
First Serve
Florida made its 19th trip to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship in the last 22 years.
Second Serve
The Gators captured the SEC regular-season title for the 23rd time in the 29-year history of the event.
First Time for Everything
With No. 5 Baylor, No. 6 Florida, No. 7 UCLA and No. 8 California advancing to the NCAA semifinals, it was the first time since the current tournament seeding began in 1999 that the semifinal round did not have any of the top four seeds playing to advance to the championship final.
Florida at the NCAA Championships
*Florida has competed in 26 of the 27 NCAA Championships, missing only the 1986 event.
*The Gators boast a 75-22 all-time record in the NCAA Championships, winning four national championships (1992, '96, '98 and 2003).
*The Gators won NCAA team titles in 1992, 1996, 1998 and 2003 and have advanced to at least the NCAA Semifinals 19 times in the last 22 years.
*Since the NCAA expanded the field to 64 teams, Florida has been a perfect 10-0 in first-round matches. The Gators are 9-1 in the second round, 23-2 in round of 16 contests, 19-4 in the quarterfinals, 10-9 in the semifinals and 4-6 in the title match.
Notable Numbers
*Whitney Benik tallied 99 career singles wins, 78 in dual match action;
*Benik also won a combined 205 singles & doubles matches, with the milestone 200th victory coming on the doubles court on May 9 in the first round of the NCAA Championships, as she became the 16th Gator to net 200 in her career;
*Csilla Borsanyi has won 49 singles matches.
Who's was Hot?
*The Gator doubles teams! Florida lost the doubles point just once in 27 dual matches during the season, dropping it only to UCLA in the NCAA semifinals. The Gators ended with a combined 65-8 dual match doubles record.
The Gators had owned the No. 3 position, winning all 24 matches that had been contested (South Carolina defaulted the match, so UF received the win but it is not counted in the total) before losing to UCLA's pair in the clinching doubles-point match. The No. 2 position was almost as stingy, posting a 22-2 record.
*UF's No. 6 singles spot produced a victory in every dual match, with Marrit Boonstra, Lolita Frangulyan and Anastasia Revzina all contributing to the perfect 26-0 record on that court.
*Senior Lolita Frangulyan ended her career on a 20-match singles win streak, with 15 of those victories coming in dual match action.
*Sophomore Anastasia Revzina ended the 2007-08 season on a 16-match singles win streak.
*The doubles team of Julia Cohen & Anastasia Revzina had won 21 consecutive matches together - the fourth-longest win streak in program history, before falling to UCLA's No. 3 pair in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship.
*Freshman Julia Cohen, who became the first Gator rookie to open the dual match season playing the No. 1 singles position since Anouschka Popp in 1994, produced a 14-7 singles record in her collegiate career, decisions at the No. 1 position. Cohen also tallied a 24-1 record in collegiate doubles matches, with the lone setback coming in the 2007-08 season-ending loss to UCLA. No Gator has ever posted an undefeated record in doubles after playing at least 25 matches in a season, but Cohen came close!
*Freshman Marrit Boonstra opened her collegiate career with an unprecedented three consecutive double-bagels and posted four 6-0, 6-0 wins in her first five matches! Boonstra was 15-3 in her inaugural collegiate singles campaign, while posting a 15-3 doubles mark, pairing with Megan Alexander at the No. 1 doubles position in every outing.
Benik Just Misses Double-100
Whitney Benik ended her stellar collegiate career with a 99-31 singles record - just one win shy of becoming the 22nd Gator to win 100 on the singles court.
In the Doubles Record Book
The doubles team of freshman Julia Cohen and sophomore Anastasia Revzina were 21-1 this season. Their 21-match win streak was the fourth-longest in Gator history.
Doubles Trouble
Florida had not lost the doubles point in any dual match during the season until encountering UCLA's formidable trio, which halted the Gators' run of winning the doubles point in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships. The Gators did post an impressive 65-8 combined doubles record in their 27 dual matches during the season.
It's been a While
The 2008 NCAA Championships marked only the fourth time ever Florida had traveled the 905 miles to play in the state of Oklahoma, and the first time since March 17, 1990, when the Gators defeated Oklahoma State, 7-2.
Florida also participated in the 1985 NCAA Championship held in Oklahoma City, where the Gators defeated U.S. International 5-4 in the Round of 16, before losing to Miami 7-2 in the quarterfinals.
Familiar Faces Everywhere!
Florida played 14 of its 22 pre-NCAA matches against teams in the 2008 NCAA Championships field, fielding a 12-2 record in those outings.
The Gators were one of NINE of the 12 SEC schools earning a bid into the 2008 event, with Florida (No. 6), Georgia (No. 2) and Vanderbilt (No. 11) each receiving a top-16 seeding.
Round of 16 Familiarity
Of the other 15 teams advancing to Tulsa, the Gators faced five of them during the season (Georgia, Vanderbilt, Arkansas, Duke & Texas), posting a 5-2 record in those matchups.
Florida vs. SEC Teams
Florida is an incredible 347-19 all-time against the SEC, including a 296-12 record in regular-season matches.
Seniors Set Mark
During UF's 7-0 win at Alabama on Sunday, April 6, the Gators secured the SEC regular-season title outright, fueled by historic wins by their two seniors. Whitney Benik and Lolita Frangulyan won the 100th doubles matches of their respective careers.
Benik paired with sophomore Csilla Borsanyi at the No. 1 doubles spot and earned the first victory of the dual match, blanking Andrea Brenes and Paulina Bigos, 8-0, as Benik became just the 11th Gator to reach the 100-win milestone in doubles, improving to 100-49. Frangulyan and sophomore Megan Alexander netted an 9-8 (8-6) win over Meritt Emery and Tiffany Welcher to solidify the sweep and present Frangulyan with her 100th career doubles win, as her record stood at 100-28.
Cohen Named SEC Freshman of the Year
Rookie Julia Cohen was recognized by the league's coaches as the SEC Freshman of the Year, becoming the third Gator to earn the honor since the award began in 2000. The other two Gators are Lindsay Dawaf (2001) and Zerene Reyes (2002).
More SEC Awards
Earning First-Team All-SEC honors this season were Whitney Benik, Csilla Borsanyi and Julia Cohen, who also was named to the inaugural SEC All-Freshman Team.
Gator sophomores Megan Alexander and Anastasia Revzina were honored as All-SEC Second Team performers by the league's coaches.
Perfection at Home in 2008
Florida's 4-0 victory over Auburn in the second round of the NCAA Championships capped an 11-0 home record and the program's 18th undefeated home season.
Super Senior Class at Home
Seniors Whitney Benik and Lolita Frangulyan helped Florida log a perfect 53-0 home record during their four-year career. The Gators' 4-0 win against Auburn in the NCAA Second Round marked their final home appearance and placed them in elite company, joining only the 1998 senior class of Bonnie Bleecker and Dawn Buth as the only other four-year class to go undefeated at home during their careers. Bleecker & Buth helped the Gators to a 44-0 home record from 1995-98.
Happy Hosts
Florida was one of 16 schools selected to play host to the first and second rounds of the NCAA Women's Tennis Championships, having served as a host site every year since the tournament expanded to its current format of 64 teams in 1999.
Home-Sweet-Home Streak
Florida capped the 2007-08 season extending its overall home win streak to 53 matches. The last loss was a 4-3 decision on May 15, 2004 against Miami in the second round of the NCAA Championships. The current streak is the second-longest of its kind in program history, trailing only the 60 in a row compiled from 1994-97.
Home Sweet Home vs. the SEC
Florida boasts a remarkable 145-1 all-time home record against SEC foes. The Gator's lone home loss to a conference team was a 4-3 decision on April 7, 2002 when Georgia became the first - and still only - SEC team to earn a victory against UF in Gainesville. Florida had won an incredible 108 straight home matches prior to that setback.
20-20 Vision
UF's 4-2 victory over Vanderbilt in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament was the 20th win of the season, marking the 22nd straight year the Gators have won at least 20 matches in a season. The Gators have posted a total of 26 20-win seasons in the 36-year history of the program.
Florida vs. In-State Opponents
Florida owns a remarkable 180-32 record against in-state rivals and has reeled off 22 straight victories against Sunshine State opponents, with the most recent a 4-0 win against Jacksonville in the 2008 NCAA First Round. The last loss was a 4-3 decision on May 15, 2004 against Miami in the second round of the NCAA Championships.
Frangulyan in Four
Senior Lolita Frangulyan received her bachelor's degree in criminology on May 3, 2008.
Regular-Season at Home
Through the end of the 2007-08 regular season, Florida had won 65 consecutive regular-season (not including SEC Tournament or NCAA Championship) home matches. The Gators' last regular-season setback at Linder Stadium was on April 7, 2002, when Georgia defeated Florida, 4-3. The current streak is the second-longest of its kind in program history, trailing only the 71 in a row compiled from 1994-2001.
UF Wins SEC Regular-Season Title
The Gators captured the SEC regular-season title for the 23rd time in the 29-year history the league has sponsored women's tennis. Florida's 2008 crown was the program's 17th time it has posted an undefeated league record (11-0).
Florida's 23 SEC titles are the most number of conference titles won by any other SEC women's program in any sport.
2008 SEC Tournament Recap
The Gators advanced to the final of the SEC Tournament, but lost a 4-3 heartbreaker to Georgia. That loss snapped the Gators' 17-match win streak, as the Bulldogs captured the league's postseason crown for the second consecutive year.
SEC Tournament Talk
*The Gators have won 15 of the 21 SEC Tournament titles (1982, '90, '91, '92, '93, '95, '96, '97, '98, '00, '02, '03, '04, '05 & '06). Georgia has claimed five crowns (1983, '94, 2001, '07 & '08), while Ole Miss captured the 1999 tournament.
*Florida boasts a 56-6 all-time record in SEC Tournament action, with four of those losses coming against Georgia and the other to Ole Miss.
*Florida has been either the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the SEC Tournament 20 times in the 21-year history of the event. The lone exception was in 2005, when the Gators entered the tournament with the No. 3 seed before winning the title.
*Florida has advanced to the finals of the SEC Tournament in 20 of the 21 years the event has been played, capturing 15 titles.
*In 2007, Florida's five-year reign as the Southeastern Conference Tournament champion came to an end, when the second-seeded Gators lost to top-seeded Georgia, 4-2, in the final.
*The 2006 title run was the first time the Gators swept every opponent to capture the crown.
*The Gators have won the SEC Tournament title in five of the seven years under head coach Roland Thornqvist., finishing runner-up in 2007.
*The 2001 event marked the first - and only - time the Gators failed to reach the title match, falling to Georgia in the semifinals.
Gator Great Jill Craybas Enters Hall of Fame
On April 11, 2008, former Gator great Jill Craybas was inducted into the Florida Athletics Hall of Fame. Craybas, who won the 1996 NCAA Singles title and guided the Gators to the team championship that season, became the 10th women's tennis representative in prestigious Hall of Fame, joining: Judy Acker-Smith (inducted 1993), Nicole Arendt (inducted 2001), Jillian Alexander (inducted 2002), Head Coach Andy Brandi (inducted 2006), Cissie Donigan (inducted 2006), Andrea Farley (inducted 2004), Jill Hetherington (inducted 1999), Lisa Raymond (inducted 2003) and Shaun Stafford (inducted 1999).
-GO GATORS-
