Florida Gators
#24 Vanderbilt
Women's Tennis Wins 10th Straight in Defeat of No. 24 Vanderbilt
Saturday, April 3, 2010 | Women's Tennis
The third-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team won its 10th consecutive match, defeating No. 24 Vanderbilt, 6-1, at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex Friday evening.
The victory, which was Florida's 90th consecutive regular-season home win, kept the Gators in the hunt for the Southeastern Conference title, as the team improved to 7-0 in league action, as well as 17-2 overall. Vanderbilt fell to 9-7 overall and 4-3 in SEC action.
Florida won all three doubles matches and received singles victories from Claire Bartlett, Lauren Embree, Marrit Boonstra, Joanna Mather and Allie Will to increase its impressive all-time home record against SEC foes to 165-1.
In spite of the seemingly impressive win, UF head coach Roland Thornqvist wasn't pleased with the team's performance.
“With the forehands and backhands we were pretty good, but we weren't very good with the little things,” Thornqvist said. “We didn't handle adversity well and we lost focus at times. Maybe we showed our youth today, because overall it was very disappointing.”
Sophomore newcomer Claire Bartlett (Chattanooga, Tenn.) made quick work of Megan Gornet, 6-0, 6-2, on court No. 6 and gave the Gators a 2-0 lead. Bartlett closed out the first set in 23 minutes and won the first two games of the second before Gornet got on the board by holding serve. Bartlett earned her fifth break of the match, but Gornet came right back with one of her own. The Gator fought and broke the Commodore sophomore, before serving out for the straight-set victory and improving to 12-3 in dual match singles play.
“I got it done quickly today,” Barlett said. “(Associate head coach) Dave Balogh and I set some goals that I work toward every day and that has really helped me. I feel like I've gotten faster and stronger and I have a lot more confidence hitting the ball.”
Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) continued her impressive rookie campaign, as she won her 10th consecutive singles match with Friday's 6-2, 6-1 victory against 23rd-ranked Catherine Newman on the showcase court. The Gator rookie earned breaks in the third and fifth games of the opening frame, while serving out for the first set. Embree followed a similar pattern in the second, but lost just one point on Newman's serve for the break in the seventh game and the victory. The win was Embree's 20th against a nationally-ranked opponent, as she improved to 25-5 overall, including 13-3 in dual match singles action, with a 7-0 record against SEC foes.
Senior Marrit Boonstra (Groningen, The Netherlands) provided the clinching dual match victory, as she led Keilly Ulery, 6-4, 5-2, and held match-point, receiving at 30-40, when Ulery went down with an injury during the previous point and was forced to retire.
Sophomore Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) provided Florida with its fifth point of the dual match when she tallied a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Rachael Dillon at the No. 4 position. Mather opened with a break and earned another in the fifth game for a 4-1 lead. Dillon broke back, but Mather didn't lose a point on Dillon's next service game and then held for the opening set. The second set was on-serve through the first six games, before Mather earned the first of the frame and held for a 5-3 lead. She then broke Dillon to earn the win in one hour and 23 minutes.
Court number two featured a great battle between UF freshman Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Chelsea Preeg. The Commodore sophomore jumped out to a 3-0 lead, before Will found her footing and held, broke Preeg at love and held again to get the set on-serve. The two were still in the seventh game, when the match on court 6 between Bartlett and Gornet was coming to a close. Will, the reigning SEC Freshman of the Week, broke Preeg in that long game, hitting a forehand winner to take the game. The match was far from over, however, as Preeg found a way to break right back. The Gator rookie settled and took another of Preeg's service games to take a 5-4 lead, then served out for the opening set. Will raced out to a 5-0 lead in the second, breaking Preeg at love in the fifth game, but the Commodore refused to be bagled and broke in the next game and held, before Will served out to post her team-leading 17th consecutive singles victory.
Freshman Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) had evened her match against Hannah Blatt at one-set all, but when the contest on court three was in an injury delay, the two had to resume play in a regulation third set instead of a 10-point super-tiebreaker. The third set was on-serve through seven games, before the two traded breaks and continued on-serve and was forced to a tiebreaker, where Hitimana actually jumped out to a 2-1 lead behind a mini-break. Blatt came right back and won four straight points for a 5-2 lead en route to the 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3) win and prevented the team shutout.
UF won the doubles point for 18th time in 19 dual matches, capturing the victory on all three courts. The Gators' fifth-ranked team of Marrit Boonstra and Allie Will logged its ninth consecutive win after posting an 8-1 decision in 42 minutes against 25th-ranked Chelsea Preeg and Jackie Wu. The match was on-serve through three games, before the Gator pair took the early lead after Will's backhand drop volley at the net sat for a winner and a 3-1 lead. Florida never looked back, winning the last seven games, punctuated with Boonstra's love game in the finale.
The Gators followed with the clinching win on court No. 3, where Joanna Mather and Caroline Hitimana downed the Commodores' Hannah Blatt and Rachael Dillon, 8-3. Neither team could hold for the first four games, before Hitimana broke the trend by holding for a 3-2 lead. The Gators broke again and Mather held to put UF ahead, 5-2, as the pair broke at love and Hitimana held at love, en route to the win.
Lauren Embree and Anastasia Revzina provided the exclamation point for doubles point when they tallied an 8-5 victory over Catherine Newman and Erica Robertson. Embree and Revzina found themselves down a break, receiving at 4-3, but broke Newman at love and Revzina held for a 5-4 lead. The Gators carried that momentum for the remainder of the match, as Embree held and Revzina served out for the victory.
The Gators return to the court on Sunday, when they play host to Kentucky. The match is scheduled to begin at noon and admission is free.
Women's College Tennis
No. 24 Vanderbilt at No. 3 Florida
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Friday, April 02, 2010
Final Score: Florida 6, Vanderbilt 1
Doubles
1. #5 Marrrit Boonstra/Allie Will (UF) d. #25 Chelsea Preeg/Jackie Wu (VU), 8-1
2. #35 Lauren Embree/Anastasia Revzina (UF) d. Catherine Newman/Erica Robertson (VU), 8-5
3. Caroline Hitimana/Joanna Mather (UF) d. Hannah Blatt/Rachael Dillon (VU), 8-3*
Singles
1. #14 Lauren Embree (UF) d. #23 Catherine Newman (VU), 6-2, 6-1
2. #9 Allie Will (UF) d. #82 Chelsea Preeg (VU), 6-4, 6-2
3. #79 Marrit Boonstra (UF) d. Keilly Ulery (VU), 6-4, 5-2 retired*
4. Joanna Mather (UF) d. Rachael Dillon (VU), 6-2, 6-3
5. Hannah Blatt (VU) d. Caroline Hitimana (UF), 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (3)
6. Claire Bartlett (UF) d. Megan Gornet (VU), 6-0, 6-2
Order of Finish: Doubles- 1, 3*, 2; Singles-6, 1, 3*, 4, 2, 5
Records: Florida 17-2, 7-0 SEC; Vanderbilt 9-7, 4-3 SEC
-UF-
