Florida Gators
#2 Georgia
No. 23 Women's Tennis Stuns No. 2 Georgia, 4-3
Saturday, March 14, 2009 | Women's Tennis
It's not often that the University of Florida women's tennis team is in the role of underdog, especially at home. But that's exactly what the 23rd-ranked Gators faced on Friday evening, when they rose to the challenge and stunned No. 2 Georgia, 4-3, at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
Florida (8-5, 2-1 SEC) captured the crucial doubles point before getting singles victories from Marrit Boonstra, Anastasia Revzina and Joanna Mather to complete the upset over the Lady Bulldogs (11-2, 2-1 SEC).
The victory extended the Gators' remarkable regular-season home winning streak to 71, while Florida improved to 142-1 all-time at home against Southeastern Conference foes.
“It's way up there,” said UF head coach Roland Thornqvist about where this win ranks for him. “This Georgia team is incredibly talented. They have one of the better players in the country at each position, so for us to win today shows the heart and toughness our team has. The crowd helped us so much. We played with more passion when they got into it. Our players continue to find that inner strength and what they need to do to win matches. Our players are finding ways to make the impossible possible and it's special to be a part of that.”
Revzina provided the clinching heroics on Friday, as she kept her composure and her nerves in-check to come through with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Yvette Hyndman on court No. 2. After winning the first set with relative ease, Revzina jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second before Hyndman battled back, breaking Revzina in the 10th game to force a deciding third. That's where the veteran Gator junior raced out to a 4-0 lead, eventually breaking Hyndman in the final game to clinch the dual match on her second match-point attempt.
“I was so focused from that very first point of the third set because I knew that if I won, our team would win, but if I lost, our team would lose,” Revzina shared. “It was unbelievable. I wanted to hit every ball. When it was done, I was so full of emotion.”
Mather's impressive 7-6 (4), 6-2 victory over 51st-ranked Nadja Gilchrist on court No. 3 gave Florida a 3-2 lead in the team scoring. The Gator rookie fell behind 4-0 to start the match, before staging a magnificent rally, as she won the next five games for a 5-4 lead. Neither player would relinquish her serve in those final four games of the opening frame, which headed to a tiebreaker, where Mather held to begin and earned a mini-break on the third point. After Gilchrist got a mini-break of her own, Mather won both of her opponent's next two serves en route to earning one final mini to take the first set. Mather began the second with a break and never looked back, earning another break in the fifth game and held for a 5-1 lead and eventually the win.
“I made a bunch of errors to start the match, but when I won that first game, I felt like I could win the match,” Mather said. “This is the biggest team win of the year for us. We've been struggling, so for us to beat the No. 2 team in the country… ”
Boonstra, ranked No. 8 in the country, provided Florida with its first singles win of the night, taking the featured match against sixth-ranked Chelsey Gullickson, 6-3, 6-2. The Gator junior won her 12th consecutive singles match and the victory was against the highest-ranked opponent she has ever defeated, as she avenged her 6-0, 6-3 setback to Gullickson back in the finals of the ITA South Region Championship during the fall.
“I have way more confidence now than I did in the last match we played,” Boonstra said. “I also don't think she played as well as she did in that earlier match. I'm just so happy because this match became so important to our team today. This is an amazing boost for our team to win a match like this.”
Florida earned the first team point of the match when the doubles pair of Boonstra and Mather zipped past Lara Fakhoury and Yvette Hyndman, 8-0, on court No. 2, before Jessica Alexander and Revzina collected a 9-7 thriller over Chelsey Gullickson and Nadja Gilchrist. At the No. 1 spot, the Gator duo earned a break in the fifth game and carried it through to the 12th game, where the Bulldogs broke and got the 8-game pro-set back on serve. Revzina held to make it 7-all, before the Gators were able to fight off one game point and capitalize on their third break point to take Gilchrist's serve. Alexander then served out for the match, as Revzina's volley at the net punched down a winner as the clinching point.
The Gators continue their unusual underdog role on Sunday, when Florida plays host to No. 12 Tennessee beginning at 1 p.m.
Women's College Tennis
No. 2 Georgia at No. 23 Florida
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Final Score: Florida 4, Georgia 3
Doubles
1. (69) Jessica Alexander/Anastasia Revzina, UF d. (73) Chelsey Gullickson/Nadja Gilchrist, UG 9-7*
2. Marrit Boonstra/Joanna Mather, UF d. Lara Fakhoury/Yvette Hyndman, UG 8-0
3. Cameron Ellis/Naoko Ueshima, UG d. Barbara Pinterova/Lauren Wolken, UF 8-3
Singles
1. (8) Marrit Boonstra, UF d. (6) Chelsey Gullickson, UG 6-3, 6-2
2. (48) Anastasia Revzina, UF d. (43) Yvette Hyndman, UG 6-2, 4-6, 6-3*
3. Joanna Mather, UF d. (51) Nadja Gilchrist, UG 7-6 (4), 6-2
4. (77) Monika Dancevic, UG d. Jessica Alexander, UF 7-5, 6-0
5. Naoko Ueshima, UG d. Barbara Pinterova, UF 7-6 (2), 6-2
6. Cameron Ellis, UG d. Lauren Wolken, UF 6-0, 6-0
Order of Finish: Doubles-2, 1, 3*; Singles-6, 4, 1, 3, 2*, 5
*indicates clinching doubles point/dual match point
-UF-
