Gator Country

Florida freshman Allie Will returns a volley during the Gators' 7-0 win against North Texas on Sunday at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex . / Gator Country photo by Casey Brooke Lawson

The eighth-ranked University of Florida women’s tennis team opened the 2010 dual match season with a 7-0 win over the University of North Texas on Sunday afternoon at Linder Stadium. Not only did the Gators sweep the doubles point, all six of their singles victories came in two straight sets.

For only the third time in program history, the Gators kicked off a dual match season with freshmen in both the No. 1 and No. 2 positions. Freshmen Lauren Embree and Allie Will joined Anouschka Popp and Divya Merchant (1993-94) and Joyce Portman and Sheryl Maskell (1976-77) as the only UF women’s tennis players to do so.

The Gators began the 2010 season on an impressive note, needing less than one hour to claim the doubles point with two wins. Embree and sophomore Anastasia Revzina downed the Mean Green’s Madura Ranganathan and Paula Dinuta, 8-2, on court two. The 26th-ranked pair of senior Marritt Boonstra and Will clinched the doubles point in Florida’s favor by outlasting Irina Paraschiv and Amy Joubert, 8-3, on center court. The Gators were not done yet, however, as the No. 3 pair of newcomer Caroline Hitimana and sophomore Jo Mather finished the sweep with an 8-6 win to close the doubles round.

Continuing on her success from last season and the fall, Boonstra gave Florida the 2-0 advantage, breezing past North Texas’ Cruz. The senior claimed the first set, 6-0, in just over 20 minutes and had the match wrapped up with a 6-0, 6-1 margin in less than 50 minutes. No. 81 Boonstra capped her first singles win of 2010 with an ace.

In her Gator dual match debut, sophomore Claire Bartlett defeated Joubert in straight sets, 6-1, 6-0, on court six. The win for Bartlett took a little over one hour and extended the Gators’ lead to 3-0. No. 92 Revzina continued the Gators’ momentum as the sophomore defeated Dinuta, 6-2, 6-1 to seal the season-opening victory for the Gators.

The two newcomers in courts one and two claimed the next two points for Florida. No. 13 Will downed Ranganathan, 6-2, 6-1, and 15th-ranked Embree took out Paraschiv, 6-2, 6-2. Embree was the first freshman since 2008 to play the No. 1 singles position on opening day and only the 10th freshman in school history to do so.

With a 6-0 lead, freshman Hitimana sealed the sweep for Florida and earned her first dual match victory with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Vykydalova on court five.

The Gators continue action as they host the University of Central Florida at 5 p.m. on Wednesday at Linder Stadium.

Photo Gallery: UF Women’s Tennis vs. North Texas, 1/24/10 (click here to view gallery)

DIRECTORY OF GATOR COUNTRY PHOTO GALLERIES

About the author

jumper42

Casey Brooke Lawson earned a B.S. in journalism from the University of Florida in December 2008. Lawson was born in Sarasota, Fla., but now still resides in Gainesville, Fla. Lawson picked up her first camera before she could walk, and now, 24 years later, she has made a career of her first love. She has been working as a photojournalist for eight years. She began at her high school, Sarasota High School, interned with the Gainesville Sun, Sarasota Herald Tribune, The Independent Florida Alligator and Sports Illustrated. Now, Lawson is a regularly contributing photojournalist for Gator Country. Trained in sports photography by Gator Country's own Tim Casey, sports photojournalism has become one of Lawson's favorite parts of her job.

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