Florida Gators
Kentucky
Women's Tennis Blanks Kentucky, 7-0
Sunday, March 7, 2004 | Women's Tennis
The third-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team took advantage of a young Kentucky team on a windy Sunday afternoon, earning a 7-0 shutout against the 20th-ranked Wildcats at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
The victory extended the Gator's overall win streak to 25, dating to last year, while winning at home for the 28th consecutive time. UF improved to 8-0 overall and 4-0 in the Southeastern Conference, while Kentucky dropped to 11-6, 3-1 in league matches.
"It's tough to play when it's gusty like it was today," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Our experience showed, especially in the situations when the score was close. You could tell that Kentucky is a young team and all of them are sort of feeling their way through against some of the SEC heavy weight schools. They helped us with some errors in tough spots and we helped ourselves by taking advantage of it."
After sweeping the three doubles positions for the seventh time this season, senior Lindsay Dawaf wasted little time disposing of UK freshman Liis Sober, not losing her serve at all during the 6-1, 6-1 victory to give the Gators a quick 2-0 lead. UF freshman Nina Suvak then left the No. 6 court with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Wildcat rookie Christine Simpson. Suvak raced out to a 5-0 lead in the second set and was serving, when Simpson began to battle by winning three straight games before Suvak finally settled down and secured the victory by breaking Simpson's serve.
"I have a lot of confidence in everyone, especially in the bottom of our lineup because of the way they've been playing," Thornqvist said. "They've done a really good job getting of the court quickly and that helps everyone else and takes some of the pressure off of the top of the lineup."
Gator sophomore Jennifer Magley then provided the clinching dual match point with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at the No. 2 position over freshman Lara Maurer. Magley won the last six games of the match to post her 20th win this season.
Boglarka Berecz topped Sarah Foster 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 4 position, where Berecz earned an important break in the sixth game of the second set, as both competitors held serve in the final three games.
Fifth-ranked Alexis Gordon defeated 19th-ranked Aibika Kalsarieva 6-1, 7-5 on the showcase court. The second set was on serve entering the ninth game, where Gordon earned the break to take a 5-4 lead with the serve. However, Kalsarieva battled and evened the set at 5-all. Gordon broke right back and then served out for the second set and take the match.
UF sophomore Zerene Reyes outlasted Joelle Schwenk 6-1, 7-6 (5) at the No. 3 position, which featured 11 service breaks, including in each of the first five games of the second set and Reyes holding a one-break advantage. But the Gator baseliner couldn't close out the match leading 5-3 with the serve, as Schwenk battled and eventually forced a tiebreak. Schwenk won the opening point on Reyes serve, but then hit a two straight unforced errors to give Reyes a 2-1 lead with a mini-break. Reyes won the next two points on her serve and took another off of Schwenk's serve to build a 5-1 lead. That's when Schwenk began to rally and won the next four points to even the breaker at 5-all with one serve. However, Schwenk double-faulted to give Reyes a 6-5 lead and the Gator lefty polished off the match on the next point.
The Gators swept the three doubles courts for the seventh time this season. The No. 3 Gator tandem of Boglarka Berecz and Nina Suvak raced out to a quick 4-0 lead against Christine Simpson and Liis Sober en route to a 8-1 victory that featured four breaks. Jennifer Magley and Zerene Reyes then polished off Sarah Foster and Joelle Schwenk at the No. 2 spot 8-2, ending the match with a service break and clinching the opening dual match point for the Gators. Alexis Gordon and Julie Rotondi completed the sweep for UF with a 8-4 win against Aibika Kalsarieva and Lara Maurer, fighting off three break points on Rotondi's serve to hold and take the match.
UF completes its nine-match season-opening home stretch on Thursday, March 11, when the Gators play host to No. 32 William & Mary beginning at 5 p.m. ET at Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex.
"William & Mary is a good team and began the year ranked in the top 10," Thornqvist said. "They slipped a little bit lately and that's why their ranking is down, but they're getting better."
College Women's Tennis
Ring Tennis Complex * Gainesville, Fla.
Sunday, March 07, 2004
Final Score: Florida 7, Kentucky 0
Doubles
No. 1 Alexis Gordon/Julie Rotondi (11), UF def. Aibika Kalsarieva/Lara Maurer, UK 8-4
No. 2 Jennifer Magley/Zerene Reyes (22), UF def. Sarah Foster/Joelle Schwenk, UK 8-2
No. 3 Boglarka Berecz/Nina Suvak, UF def. Christine Simpson/Liis Sober, UK 8-1
Singles
No. 1 Alexis Gordon (5), UF def. Aibika Kalsarieva (19), UK 6-1, 7-5
No. 2 Jennifer Magley (22), UF def. Lara Maurer, UK 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 Zerene Reyes (45), UF def. Joelle Schwenk, UK 6-1, 7-6 (5)
No. 4 Boglarka Berecz (71), UF def. Sarah Foster, UK 6-2, 6-3
No. 5 Lindsay Dawaf, UF def. Liis Sober, UK 6-1, 6-1
No. 6 Nina Suvak, UF def. Christine Simpson, UK 6-1, 6-3
Order of Finish: Doubles 3, 2, 1; Singles 5, 6, 2, 4, 1, 3
END OF REPORT
