Women's Tennis Cruises Past Mississippi State, 6-1

Sunday, March 29

Gainesville, FL

1:00 PM

Florida Gators

#61 Mississippi State

Women's Tennis Cruises Past Mississippi State, 6-1

Sunday, March 29, 2009 | Women's Tennis

The University of Florida women's tennis team rebounded from Friday's setback with an impressive 6-1 victory over Mississippi State on Sunday at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.

The Gators, who showed some rust after a 14-day break during their tough 4-3 road decision at Ole Miss on Friday, captured the doubles point in 49 minutes, before earning wins on the Nos. 1, 4 and 3 singles courts to secure the team's 61^st consecutive home win and improve to 144-1 all-time in Gainesville against Southeastern Conference opponents.

“I thought we did a great job of coming back (after Friday's loss), especially at No. 1 doubles, where we let a lead slip away today, but kept our composure and competed very well,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “While we might not have been at the top of our game at each spot in the lineup today, I really liked how we competed and fought at every position.”

Junior Marrit Boontra extended her singles win streak to 15, as she raced past Olesya Tsigvintseva, 6-1, 6-0, at the No. 1 position to give the Gators a 2-0 lead.

“Marrit's done a great job this year of honing her skills, she can handle pace better,” Thornqvist said. “She's 5-foot-10 and can move like a cat and she's learned to use that to her advantage and push the pace. Leadership-wise, she just loves the team and wills the team to victories. It's very impressive. Anastasia (Revzina) has been our vocal leader and Marrit has displayed her leadership on the court. Both take such great pride in the success of the team.”

MSU (9-5, 0-5 SEC) got on the board with a win at the No. 6 singles position, but that's the lone point the Lady Bulldogs would earn, as the Gators (10-6, 4-2 SEC) claimed the victories on the remaining courts.

UF freshman Jessica Alexander downed Elna de Villiers, 6-4, 6-2, at the No. 4 position, before fellow rookie Joanna Mather provided the clinching victory with a 6-4, 6-0 decision against Radka Ferancova on court No. 3.

Junior Anastasia Revzina and freshman Barbara Pinterova polished off the final two matches by winning their respective decisions in a third-set 10-point super-tiebreak, as Revzina rallied for a 5-7, 6-3, 1-0 (10-6) result at the No. 2 spot just minutes before Pinterova took out Natalia Mayuk 6-2, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7) on court No. 5.

Florida jumped out and won the all-important doubles point to begin the match, as the Gators' No. 2 team of Marrit Boonstra and Joanna Mather won their eighth consecutive match as they blanked Natalia Mayuk and Olesya Tsigvintseva, 8-0. Florida captured the first point of the dual match when Jessica Alexander and Anastasia Revzina polished off Elna de villiers and Martina Banikova, 8-5, on the No. 1 court.

The Gators return to action on Friday, when the team travels to Baton Rouge to play No. 21 LSU, before heading to Fayetteville, Ark., to face No. 23 Arkansas on Sunday.

“LSU and Arkansas both are very good at home and we're certainly going to have our work cut out for us next week,” Thornqvist said.

Women's College Tennis

No. 61 Mississippi State at No. 14 Florida

Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex * Gainesville, Fla.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Final Score: Florida 6, Mississippi State 1

Doubles

1. Jessica Alexander/Anastasia Revzina, UF d. Elna de villiers/Martina Banikova, MS 8-5*

2. Marrit Boonstra/Joanna Mather, UF d. Natalia Mayuk/Olesya Tsigvintseva, MS 8-0

3. Daniela Juskova/Radka Ferancova, MS d. Brooke Allen/Barbara Pinterova, UF 8-5

Singles

1. (5) Marrit Boonstra, UF d. Olesya Tsigvintseva, MS 6-1, 6-0