Women's Tennis Opens Season at Home Sunday at 11 am, Host Kids Day
Friday, January 22, 2010 | Women's Tennis
The eighth-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team launches its 2009-10 dual match season on Sunday, Jan. 24, when the Gators play host to North Texas. First serve is scheduled for 11 a.m. from Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex and admission is free.
Additionally, there will be a free Kids Day immediately following the match for all children eighth-grade and under to play on the varsity courts, as well as interact with the coaches and members of the current Gator team.
Florida returns seniors Marrit Boonstra (The Netherlands) and Anastasia Revzina (Moscow, Russia), and sophomore Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) from last year's team, as the trio playing the top three singles positions in the lineup. A total of five new players will suit up in the Gator Orange and Blue, including the nation's top-ranked recruiting class, as rated by tennisrecruiting.net.
“We are really excited for Sunday. We have all eight players on the court and ready to go,” said UF head coach Roland Thornqvist, who enters his ninth year at the helm of the Gators. “Fans will see our team playing very fired-up tennis because Sunday is the day we have been waiting for and talking about for many, many months. We're just excited and anxious to play someone else.”
Boonstra compiled a 21-4 singles record playing the No. 1 spot last year and earned All-America honors. Revzina has proven to be a consistent performer during her career and enters the 2009-10 season having won a combined 137 singles and doubles matches. Both seniors competed in the 2009 NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. Mather earned a place on the Southeastern Conference All-Freshman Team for her play last year and competed in the NCAA Doubles Championships.
Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) was rated as the nation's No. 2 overall recruit and showed why during the 2009 fall season, as she compiled an impressive 12-2 singles record, with 13 matches against nationally-ranked opponents.
Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.), ranked as the nation's No. 6 recruit, played 14 ranked foes during the 2009 fall season and produced a team-best 20-3 singles record. She played her way through pre-qualifying and qualifying action at the Riviera All-American Championships and advanced to the quarterfinals of the main draw, joining Embree at that stage of the first collegiate Grand Slam of the year.
Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) missed the majority of the fall season because of injury, but is ready for the dual match portion of the season and will be counted on to provide depth on the singles and doubles courts.
Claire Bartlett (Chattanooga, Tenn.) played her freshman year at the University of Virginia and enrolled at UF during the 2009 summer. A decorated and accomplished player in Juniors, Bartlett went 11-5 during the fall.
Brittany Borsanyi (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) ranked as high as No. 38 in the nation and reached No. 7 in Florida by tennisrecruiting.net for the class of 2009.
Sunday will be the first-ever meeting between Florida and North Texas, which is coached by former Gator assistant coach Sujay Lama.
The Gators, who are 34-3 all-time in season-opening dual matches, have won 24 consecutive season-openers, with the last loss a 7-2 setback at Miami on Feb. 1, 1985.
Florida enters its 2009-10 home slate sporting an overall program-record 66-match home win streak, including 13 wins in postseason play (SEC and NCAA Tournament). The Gators set a new standard with their 6-1 victory over Mississippi State on March 29, 2009, passing the previous record of 60 consecutive home wins that stretched from the 1993-94 season until May 23, 1999, when Stanford halted the run in the final of the NCAA Championship. The last time the Gators fell at home came on May 15, 2004, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Miami (Fla.), 4-3.
Florida also has won 77 consecutive regular-season home matches - not including SEC Tournament or NCAA Championship events - entering the 2009-10 regular season. 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 longest of its kind in program history, last season passing the 71 in a row compiled from 1994-2001. The record-tying victory was a thrilling 4-3 upset win over then-No. 2 Georgia on March 13, 2009, while the record-breaker was a 5-2 upset against then-No. 15 Tennessee on March 15, 2009.
-UF-
