Florida Gators
North Texas
No. 8 Women's Tennis Sweeps North Texas, 7-0
Sunday, January 24, 2010 | Women's Tennis
The eighth-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team opened the 2010 dual match season with a 7-0 win over the University of North Texas on Sunday afternoon at Linder Stadium. Not only did the Gators sweep the doubles point, all six of their singles victories came in two straight sets.
“North Texas was very good,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “They were certainly one of the tougher teams that we have had to open with in my nine years here at Florida. But that was exactly what we needed. Our team was nervous and the wind was blowing out there so they forced us to be very good with the mental aspect of our game. The team had to be resilient and North Texas made our squad find that extra level of competition within them.”
“We are way behind on doubles and that was clear after today,” he continued. “It's definitely something we're going to put some work into but I saw some real glimmers of excellence. We will pay close attention to that aspect in the coming days and into next week for sure.”
For only the third time in program history, the Gators kicked off a dual match season with freshmen in both the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. Freshmen Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) and Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) joined Anouschka Popp and Divya Merchant (1993-94) and Joyce Portman and Sheryl Maskell (1976-77) as the only UF women's tennis players to do so.
“I thought Lauren and Allie did great,” Thornqvist said. “They showed composure at the top of the lineup in their first year, but both of them have a great amount of international experience so I'm not terribly surprised at how they played today.”
The Gators began the 2010 season on an impressive note, needing less than one hour to claim the doubles point with two wins. Embree and sophomore Anastasia Revzina (Moscow, Russia) downed the Mean Green's Madura Ranganathan and Paula Dinuta, 8-2, on court two. The 26th-ranked pair of senior Marritt Boonstra (Groningen, The Netherlands) and Will clinched the doubles point in Florida's favor by outlasting Irina Paraschiv and Amy Joubert, 8-3, on center court. The Gators were not done yet, however, as the No. 3 pair of newcomer Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) and sophomore Jo Mather (Duluth, Ga.) finished the sweep with an 8-6 win to close the doubles round.
Continuing on her success from last season and the fall, Boonstra gave Florida the 2-0 advantage, breezing past North Texas' Cruz. The senior claimed the first set, 6-0, in just over 20 minutes and had the match wrapped up with a 6-0, 6-1 margin in less than 50 minutes. No. 81 Boonstra capped her first singles win of 2010 with an ace.
“The real highlight of the day was Marritt,” Thornqvist said. “She was professional and determined and played with as much positive energy as I have ever seen in her time at Florida. If she can continue that behavior and play, it will certainly help the Gators.”
In her Gator dual match debut, sophomore Claire Bartlett (Chattanooga, Tenn.) defeated Joubert in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0, on court six. The win for Bartlett took a little over one hour and extended the Gators' lead to 3-0. No. 92 Revzina continued the Gators' momentum as the sophomore defeated Dinuta, 6-2, 6-1 to seal the season-opening victory for the Gators.
The two newcomers in courts one and two claimed the next two points for Florida. No. 13 Will downed Ranganathan, 6-2, 6-1, and 15th-ranked Embree took out Paraschiv, 6-2, 6-2. Embree was the first freshman since 2008 to play the No. 1 singles position on opening day and only the 10th freshman in school history to do so.
With a 6-0 lead, freshman Hitimana sealed the sweep for Florida and earned her first dual match victory with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Vykydalova on court five.
The Gators continue action as they host the University of Central Florida at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Linder Stadium. Live scoring and official results will be available at www.GatorZone.com.
Women's College Tennis
North Texas at No. 8 Florida
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Final Score: Florida 7, North Texas 0
Doubles
No. 1 (26) Marrit Boonstra/Allie Will (UF) v. Irina Paraschiv/Amy Joubert (UNT), 8-3*
No. 2 Lauren Embree/Anastasia Revzina (UF) v. Madura Ranganathan/Paula Dinuta (UNT), 8-2
No. 3 Carolina Hitimana/Joanna Mather (UF) v. Barbora Vykydalova/Catalina Cruz (UNT), 8-6
Singles
No. 1 (15) Lauren Embree (UF) v. Irina Paraschiv (UNT), 6-2, 6-2
No. 2 (13) Allie Will (UF) v. Madura Ranganathan (UNT), 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 (92) Anastasia Revzina (UF) v. Paula Dinuta (UNT), 6-2, 6-1*
No. 4 (81) Marritt Boonstra (UF) v. Catalina Cruz (UNT), 6-0, 6-1
No. 5 Caroline Hitimana (UF) v. Barbora Vykydalova (UNT), 6-3, 6-4
No. 6 Claire Bartlett (UF) v. Amy Joubert (UNT), 6-1, 6-0
*Clinching doubles point/dual match win
Order of Finish: Doubles- 2, 1, 3; Singles- 4, 6, 3, 2, 1, 5
-UF-
