Florida Gators
#3 Northwestern - ITA Team Indoor Quarterfinals
W-Tennis Falls to No. 2-Seed Northwestern, 4-3
Sunday, February 14, 2010 | Women's Tennis
In an epic match, seventh-seeded Florida fell just short in its upset bid of No. 2-seeded Northwestern, 4-3, on Saturday in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships hosted by the University of Wisconsin at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium.
It was a match that lasted well past midnight and featured five three-set singles matches, coming down to the No. 6 singles position, where Elena Chernyakova rallied past Gator sophomore newcomer Claire Bartlett, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5.
The match was scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. ET, but was delayed due to the length of the Miami-Michigan consolation draw match.
“You have to give Northwestern a whole lot of credit. They showed why they are the defending champion of this tournament. We played superb doubles, the best we played all season. But Northwestern stormed back and put the pressure on with five three-setters,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “It came down to just a point here and there and neither team gave an edge. We just came up of the wrong end of a couple of those points. That was the whole difference in the match. I've very proud of our team. We gave it everything we had. Northwestern showed that they are a championship team and won those couple extra points.”
Florida (7-1) must regroup quickly, as the Gators return to the court on Sunday to play UCLA in a quarterfinal consolation match beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.
The Gators held a 1-0 lead after winning the doubles point, but Northwestern (6-0) quickly evened the team score by earning the 6-2, 6-3 decision on court No. 5, where Brittany Wowchuk defeated Caroline Hitimana.
Senior Marrit Boonstra put Florida back on top with her 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 win against Kate Turvy at the No. 3 position.
The Wildcats came right back with a win at the No. 1 spot, where 12th-ranked Maria Mosolova outlasted UF's 15th-ranked freshman Lauren Embree, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Northwestern then took a 3-2 lead after Lauren Lui defeated Gator senior Anastasia Revzina, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, at the No. 4 position.
Freshman Allie Will rallied on court No. 2, where she overcame a 5-4 third-set deficit to defeat Samantha Murray, 5-7, 6-2, 7-6, evening the team score at 3-all, leaving the match to be decided at the No. 6 position.
Florida captured the doubles point by winning the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. Marrit Boonstra and Allie Will defeated Lauren Lui and Elena Chernyakova, 8-3, at the top spot, before Lauren Embree and Anastasia Revzina downed Maria Mosolova and Brittany Wowchuk, 8-4, to secure the initial point of the dual match. The Gator pair of Caroline Hitimana and Joanna Mather led on court No. 3, but retired once UF had captured the doubles point.
2010 ITA National Team Indoor Championships, Quarterfinals
Nielsen Tennis Stadium
Madison, Wis.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Final Score: Northwestern 4, Florida 3
Doubles
No. 1 (26) Marrit Boonstra/Allie Will (UF) d. Lauren Lui/Elena Chernyakova (NW) 8-3
No. 2 Lauren Embree/Anastasia Revzina (UF) d. Maria Mosolova/Brittany Wowchuk (NW), 8-4*
No. 3 Samantha Murray/Kate Turvy (NW) d. Caroline Hitimana/Joanna Mather (UF), 4-5 (UF retired)
Singles
No. 1 (12) Maria Mosolova (NW) d. (15) Lauren Embree (UF), 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
No. 2 (13) Allie Will (UF) d. (48) Samantha Murray (NW), 5-7, 6-2, 7-6
No. 3 (81) Marrit Boonstra (UF) d. (85) Kate Turvy (NW), 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
No. 4 Lauren Lui (NW) d. (92) Anastasia Revzina (UF), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3
No. 5 Brittany Wowchuk (NW) d. Caroline Hitimana (UF), 6-2, 6-3
No. 6 Elena Chernyakova (NW) d. Claire Bartlett (UF), 4-6, 7-6, 7-5*
Order of Finish: Doubles-1, 2*, 3; Singles-5, 3, 1, 4, 2, 6*
Records: Florida 7-1, Northwestern 6-0
-UF-
