Gator Country

On a chilly evening in Gainesville, the No. 8 Florida women’s tennis team made quick work of UCF, earning a 6-1 victory Wednesday at Linder Stadium/Ring Tennis Complex.

Florida swept the doubles matches and needed just 52 minutes to win four singles matches to improve to 2-0 and dropping the Knights to 1-1.

“We showed good improvement from our first match,” Florida coach Roland Thornqvist said. “Our doubles matches looked a lot better and without having much practice.”

The Gators dominated the top four singles positions, relinquishing a combined total of three games, with Anastasia Revzina winning 6-0, 6-0 in 44 minutes. Florida’s other singles victories came from Lauren Embree, Carolina Hitimana and Marrit Boonstra. Brittany Borsanyi also won for the Gators, her first dual match singles victory.

“I think I’ve been improving every year I’ve been here and I feel like I’m playing my best right now,” Revzina said.

Embree followed four minutes later with a 6-0, 6-1 victory against Andrea Yacaman. Hitimana provided the dual-match clinching win one minute later by closing out her No. 4 match against Allison Hodges, 6-1, 6-0. Hitimana lost her serve to begin the match, but settled in a hurry and ripped off the next 12 games to earn the 49-minute decision. Boonstra powered her way past Alexis Rodriguez, 6-1, 6-0, as the UCF sophomore held in the third game of the opening set to prevent the shutout.

On the doubles court, the No. 1 pairing of Revzina and Embree raced out to a 4-0 lead, before exchanging breaks en route winning their match, 8-2, in 32 minutes. On the third court, sophomore Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) and Hitimana also took a four-game lead early. The duo surrendered only one game before the clinching the team doubles point with an 8-1 win. Boonstra and Bartlett also moved swiftly through UCF, winning 8-2 at the No. 2 position to complete the doubles sweep.

Florida returns to the home court Friday in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend, which is the first two rounds of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships. The Gators will play BYU at 10 a.m., while No. 23 SMU and No. 31 FIU take the court at 1 p.m. On Saturday, the winning teams square off at 1 p.m. The 64-team event resumes with the round of 16 on Feb. 12.

FLORIDA 6, UCF 1
Linder Stadium/Ring Tennis Complex, Gainesville, Fla.
DOUBLES
1. Lauren Embree/Anastasua Revzina (F) def. Alexis Rodriguez/Jenna Doerfler, 8-2; 2. Claire Bartlett/Marrit Boonstra (F) def. Allison Hodges/Katie Orletsky, 8-2; 3. Caroline Hitimana-Joanna Mather (F) def. Christy Core/Andrea Yacaman, 8-1. (Florida wins doubles point. Order of finish: 1, 3, 2.)
SINGLES
1. (15) Lauren Embree (F) def Andrea Yacaman, 6-0, 6-1; 2. (81) Marrit Boonstra (F) def. Alexis Rodriguez, 6-1, 6-0; 3. (92) Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Jenna Doerfler, 6-0, 6-0; 4. Caroline Hitimana (F) def. Allison Hodges, 6-1, 6-0; 5. Katie Orletsky (UCF) def. Claire Bartlett, 7-5, 3-6, (10-7); 6. Brittany Borsanyi (F) def. Taylor Dubins, 7-5, 6-1. (Order of Finish: 3, 1, 4, 2, 6, 5).
Record: Florida 2-0, UCF 1-1.

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