No. 4 W-Tennis Defeats No. 16 Tennessee, 6-1

Friday, April 9

Knoxville, TN

5:00 PM

Florida Gators

#16 Tennessee

No. 4 W-Tennis Defeats No. 16 Tennessee, 6-1

Saturday, April 10, 2010 | Women's Tennis

The fourth-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team earned a hard-fought 6-1 road victory at 16^th-ranked Tennessee Friday evening at Barksdale Stadium.

The Gators won the doubles point then captured the No. 1 and No. 6 singles positions in straight sets to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The remaining four singles matches went to three sets and Florida won three of those to secure the victory and capture its 12^th consecutive dual match.

“Today was a real gut-check, with four three-setters and tough doubles matches,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We've been preparing for a match like this and I was happy with how we responded to the challenge of playing on the road. We were down for the first 40 minutes of singles and it didn't look good. I have to give Tennessee all kinds of credit because they stormed out of the shoot in singles and played high-level tennis. It took everything we had to win here today.”

More importantly, the victory moved the Gators to 9-0 in Southeastern Conference matches with two outings remaining in regular-season play, both of which are on the road at the two teams just behind Florida in the league standings. The Gators (19-2) next travel to Athens, Ga., to face the 14^th-ranked Lady Bulldogs on Sunday.

On Friday, Florida changed its doubles pairings at the No. 2 and 3 positions and it proved successful. UF's No. 2 tandem of Lauren Embree (Macro Island, Fla.) and Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) paired for the first time ever, while the No. 3 duo of Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) and Anastasia Revzina (Moscow, Russia) were playing just their second match together.

Both new teams produced victories to capture the initial point of the dual match, as Embree and Mather downed No. 22-ranked Rosalia Alda and Zsofia Zubor, 8-4, before Hitimana and Revzina came through with a 9-7 clinching decision against Kata Szekely and Katie Lee.

“Ultimately, I think these two teams will give us the best chance,” Thornqvist said. “We gained leadership at No. 3 and that's what we need and could be the difference down the road. At No. 2 we looked really, really good and beat a very talented doubles teams today.”

UF's top doubles pair of Marrit Boonstra (The Netherlands) and Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) had its nine-match win streak halted with an 8-6 setback to Caitlin Whoriskey and Marie Sorbello at the No. 1 court to close out doubles competition.

Gator sophomore newcomer Claire Bartlett (Chattanooga, Tenn.) was the first off the singles court, posting a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Szekely. Embree, ranked No. 14 nationally, followed with a 6-4, 7-5 upset win over 11^th-rank Whoriskey at the No. 1 position and tallied her 11^th consecutive singles victory.

Tennessee (12-7, 6-3 SEC) then got on the board with a win on court No. 5, where Jennifer Meredith topped Joanna Mather, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0.

Will then provided the clinching dual match victory, as she downed Maria Sorbello, 7-5, 3-6, 6-0 at the No. 2 position and clocked in her 18^th straight singles win.

Marrit Boonstra followed with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-1 decision at the No. 3 spot, before Anastasia Revzina ended the dual match with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory on court No. 4.

Women's College Tennis

No. 4 Florida at No. 16 Tennessee

Barksdale Stadium

Knoxville, Tenn.

Friday, April 09, 2010

Final Score: Florida 6, Tennessee 1

Doubles

1-#66 Caitlin Whoriskey/Marie Sorbello (UT) d. #5 Marrit Boonstra/Allie Will (UF), 8-6

2-Lauren Embree/Joanna Mather (UF) d. #22 Rosalia Alda/Zsofia Zubor (UT), 8-4

3-Caroline Hitimana/Anastasia Revzina (UF) d. Kata Szekely/Katie Lee (UT), 9-7*

Singles

1-#14 Lauren Embree (UF) d. #11 Caitlin Whoriskey (UT), 6-4, 7-5