Florida Gators
#22 Florida State
Newly No. 1-Ranked UF Women's Tennis Team Defeats No. 22 Florida State, 6-1
Wednesday, March 2, 2011 | Women's Tennis
Shortly after the first computer rankings of the 2011 season were release, the newly No. 1-ranked Florida women's tennis team took to the court and earned a 6-1 victory against No. 22 Florida State Tuesday evening at Scott Speicher Tennis Center.
Florida (11-1) had not played in a week since reaching the finals of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Feb. 21, but didn't show any signs of rust early, as the Gators won the doubles point with impressive victories on all three courts.
“We played very well in doubles, which I was very happy to see. We played aggressively and smart,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “The highlight of our singles was the play of freshmen Olivia (Janowicz) and Sofie (Oyen), both of whom won in two tough sets. The way they competed at the end of both sets was great to see; as was how they handled themselves with great composure.”
Sophomore Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) was the first Gator off the singles court, as she posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Amy Sargeant at the No. 6 position and gave Florida a 2-0 lead.
Florida State got on the board when 49th-ranked Katie Rybakova knocked off seventh-ranked Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.), 6-1, 6-4 at the No. 1 spot, where the Gator sophomore had her nine-match win streak snapped and fell for the first time this year in dual match action.
The Gators bounced right back when freshman Alex Cercone (Seminole, Fla.) earned a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Ruth Seaborne on court four, before sophomore Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) clinched the dual match with her 6-1, 6-2 decision over Francesca Segarelli. The victory was Embree's ninth consecutive on the singles court this year, all coming in dual match play.
Freshmen Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) and Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) provided the finishing touches on the match with hard-fought wins against Noemie Scharle and Federica Suess, respectively. Oyen's score was 7-5, 6-4 on court No. 3, where the Gator rookie snapped a three-match skid and upset the 47th ranked Seminole. Janowicz's score of 6-3, 7-6 gave her a fourth straight win, this one coming at the No. 5 spot in the lineup.
The Gators next turn their attention to Southeastern Conference action and launch their league schedule on Fri., March 4, when the team heads to Baton Rouge, La., and plays LSU, before facing No. 16 Arkansas in Fayetteville on Sunday.
“We're excited to get the SEC season rolling,” Thornqvist said. “We've prepared well and look forward to another great year of conference matches.”
Florida is the defending regular season and tournament champion and has won 14 consecutive SEC dual matches entering the 2011 campaign.
Florida's jump from No. 2 to the No. 1 ranking was the result of the switch the Campbell/ITA Rankings makes at this point in the year from a human vote to a computer point-per-match formula.
According to the ITA, Florida's strength of schedule helped it leap over then-top-ranked Stanford, which defeated the Gators, 4-2, on Feb. 21 in the final of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The ITA states that, “UF has posted five top-12 victories, all over ACC opponents, including three wins over top-5 competition. Stanford meanwhile has picked up more top 20 wins than Florida with six but only has two wins over teams ranked in the top 12.”
This is the first time Florida has been the top-ranked team since March 6, 2007.
Individually, this is the second consecutive period when the Gator doubles team of Oyen and Will are the top-ranked tandem in the country, according to the new rankings that were released Tuesday.
Will is No. 7 in singles to highlight six Gators in the national rankings, followed by Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) at No. 21, Embree at No. 26, Janowicz at No. 34, Cercone at No. 35 and Hitimana at No. 125.
Along with Oyen and Will in the national doubles ranking includes the team of Hitimana and Mather at No. 58 and Embree and Mather at No. 75.
Women's College Tennis
No. 1 Florida at No. 22 Florida State
Scott Speicher Tennis Center
Tallahassee, Fla.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Final Score: Florida 6, Florida State 1
Doubles
1. Alex Cercone/Allie Will, UF d. Noemie Scharle/Federica Suess, FSU, 8-1
2. Lauren Embree/Caroline Hitimana, UF d. Francesca Segarelli/Ruth Seaborne, FSU, 8-1*
3. Olivia Janowicz/Joanna Mather, UF d. Katie Rybakova/Amy Sargeant, FSU, 8-2
Order of Finish: 1, 2*, 3
Singles
1 . #49 Katie Rybakova, FSU d. #7 Allie Will, UF, 6-1, 6-4
2. #26 Lauren Embree, UF d. Francesca Segarelli, FSU, 6-1, 6-2*
3. Sofie Oyen, UF d. #47 Noemie Scharle, FSU, 7-5, 6-4
4. #35 Alex Cercone, UF d. Ruth Seaborne, FSU, 6-2, 6-3
5. #34 Olivia Janowicz, UF d. Federica Suess, FSU, 6-3, 7-6
6. #125 Caroline Hitimana, UF d. Amy Sargeant, FSU, 6-1, 6-1
Order of Finish: 6, 1, 4, 2, 3, 5
