Women's Tennis Drops SEC Opener at Kentucky, 4-3

Friday, March 6

Lexington, KY

1:00 PM

Florida Gators

#14 Kentucky

Women's Tennis Drops SEC Opener at Kentucky, 4-3

Friday, March 6, 2009 | Women's Tennis

The University of Florida women's tennis team dropped a close 4-3 decision to No. 14 Kentucky on Friday afternoon at the Boone Tennis Complex in the Southeastern Conference opener for both schools.

Florida's No. 2 tandem of Marrit Boonstra and Joanna Mather netted the first individual win of the day for the Gators, as they defeated Megan Broderick and Christine Johnston, 8-6. Kentucky (9-0, 1-0 SEC), however, claimed the team doubles point after earning wins on the other two courts to take a 1-0 lead.

“We got blitz in the first 20 minutes of doubles and didn't respond well to that,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “It wound up being the difference in the match. As good as we were in our last match in doubles, was as opposite as we were today. We need to find consistency in our doubles game and that's something we will address.”

Because the match was played inside UK's four-court indoor facility due to weather conditions, only the top four match-ups on the singles courts began play. That's where Florida began to capture the momentum, as Boonstra, Anastasia Revzina and Jessica Alexander won their respective opening sets.

Mather had dropped her opening frame, but stormed back to win the first four games of the second en route to forcing a deciding third set. Johnston held to begin the third and broke the Gator rookie to take a 2-0 lead.

At that time in the dual match, Boonstra got the Gators on the team board with her convincing 6-2, 6-1 victory over Carolina Escamilla on court No. 1, where she has opened the dual match season winning her first 10 decisions.

Revzina followed shortly with a 6-2, 6-3 win against Megan Broderick at the No. 2 position that gave Florida a 2-1 lead in the team scoring.

Mather held in the third game of her final set, as Johnston also held on her next service game for a 3-1 lead, before Mather earned a break but couldn't hold to get the set back on-serve, as the Wildcat went to the baseline with a 4-2 lead, where she held for a 5-2 advantage, later breaking Mather in the final game to take the 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 decision that evened the team score at 2-all.

Alexander continued to battle Whitney Spencer at the No. 4 spot, where the Gator rookie took the first set 6-3 and the second was tied at 3-all, before Spencer earned a break and held for a 5-3 lead. Alexander then held, but wasn't able to break Spencer, who forced a third set, where she took the opening game. Alexander bounced back to win the next two games for a 2-1 lead in the third. The frame remained on-serve through the next several games until Alexander grabbed one late and held on for the 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory to tie the team scoring at 3-all.

During Alexander's match, Kentucky regained the team lead with a straight-set victory on court No. 6, while Barbara Pinterova was battling at the No. 5 spot against Caroline Lilley, who provided the clinching decision 6-3, 6-1.

“We showed tremendous heart and fight in singles and I'm really proud of that. We're getting better. This team continues to show great drive and the will to get better and I have no doubt that we will,” said Thornqvist, whose Gators have played five 4-3 decisions already this season.

The Gators (6-5, 0-1 SEC) continue their SEC-opening weekend on Sunday, when Florida plays at Vanderbilt beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

Women's College Tennis

No. 31 Florida at No. 14 Kentucky

Boone Tennis Complex * Lexington, Ky.

Friday, March 06, 2009

Final Score: Kentucky 4, Florida 3

Doubles

1. (53) Carolina Escamilla/Caroline Lilley, UK d. (69) Jessica Alexander/Anastasia Revzina, UF 8-5*

2. Marrit Boonstra/Joanna Mather, UF d. Megan Broderick/Christine Johnston, UK, 8-6

3. Whitney Spencer/Lauren Meier, UK d. Barbara Pinterova/Lauren Wolken, UF 8-1

Singles

1. (8) Marrit Boonstra, UF d. Carolina Escamilla, UK 6-2, 6-1