ATHENS, Ga. – Familiarity bred contempt Thursday for the Mississippi women’s team in its NCAA Round of 16 match at the University of Georgia’s Dan Magill Tennis Complex against Southeastern Conference foe Florida.
Fortunately, the No. 3 Gators proved to be too talented, gutting out a 4-1 victory that advanced them into Saturday’s quarterfinal round against Miami, Fla. The 11th-seeded Hurricanes advancd with a 4-1 victory over No. 6 Northwestern.
The Gators (27-2) won their 20th consecutive match and reached the NCAA quarterfinals for the 24th time in the 29-year history of the event, but the victory didn’t come as easily as the score might seem.
“We played a very, very good Ole Miss team,” said Florida coach Roland Thornqvist. “We played them a month and half ago and we knew we would see a very different Ole Miss team than we did back in Gainesville. I thought Ole Miss played exceptionally well. They pushed us to the brink and I was really happy to see that we were able to come out on top.”
Florida won a tough doubles point as the No. 1 team of Marrit Boonstra and Allie Will overcame an early break to defeat Ole Miss’ 12th-ranked pair of Kristi Boxx and Karen Nijssen, 8-6.
Florida began by winning the doubles match on court No. 3 as Carolina Hitimana and Anastasia Revzina beat Mississippi’s Abby Guthrie and Laura van de Stroet, 8-4.
But Ole Miss battled back to even the doubles competition as the team of Connor Vogel and Gabby Rangel surprised Florida’s 29th-ranked team of Lauren Embree and Joanna Mather, 9-7, setting the stage for the decisive match at No. 1 that would provide the winning team some momentum heading into the singles competition. As they have done most of the year, Boonstra and Will came through.
“I was happy to see that we performed under pressure,” Thornqvist said. “We lost at No. 2 doubles which is very rare. We haven’t done that a lot this year. That shook us up a little, but the No. 1 team though under pressure and was able to clinch it for us. Our No. 3 team played well right from the start.”
The Gators jumped out quickly on several of the singles courts and appeared well on their way to a convincing team win. But again, Ole Miss refused to fold and fought until the final point, making the Gator faithful in the stands a bit uncomfortable until freshman Embree, ranked No. 9 nationally, provided the clinching heroics with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over No. 44 Kristi Boxx at the No. 1 position in just under two hours.
When Embree put the finishing touches on Florida’s victory, the Gators were trailing in the matches at Nos. 5 and 6 singles after both of them held seemingly comfortable leads.
Boonstra, who was named the SEC Tournament MVP a few weeks ago on these same courts, picked up right where she left off during Florida’s last visit to the Magill Tennis Complex. The Gator senior gave the Gators a 2-0 lead when she defeated Connor Vogel, 6-1, 6-2, in one hour on the No. 3 court. Boonstra never lost her serve en route to winning her 16th consecutive singles match and improving to 25-3 this season.
Freshman Will, No. 8 nationally, was next off the court as she downed Karen Nijssen, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 2 spot moments later, providing Florida with what appear to be a comfortable 3-0 lead just 63 minutes into singles action. The victory was the 25th consecutive singles win for the Gator rookie, whose streak is tied for the fifth-longest in program history. Will also improved to a team-leading 45-3, tied for the seventh most in a season in Gator history.
Hitimana won a tough first set against Gabby Rangel at the No. 6 spot, earning a break in the 11th game and serving out for the first frame. She then jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second, before Rangel began an incredible rally, winning the final six games to take the second set and force a third, where she held to begin when play was abandoned.
Sophomore Joanna Mather dropped her first set 6-2 against Laura van de Stroet, but won the second, 6-3, to force a deciding third. Mather jumped out to a 4-0 lead, before van de Stroet ripped off winner after winner to capture the next five games for a 5-4 lead, bringing the final set back on-serve when the match was halted.
Senior Anastasia Revzina couldn’t fend off Abby Guthrie, who was able to give Ole Miss its lone singles victory of the day, 6-4, 6-4.
Embree and Boxx exchanged breaks midway through the first set, which remained on-serve until the Gator rookie was able to break in the 10th game to take the opening frame, 6-4.
Embree then jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Boxx managed a break in the fifth game and held to get things back on-serve. The match remained that way and needed a tiebreaker to determine the second set. Embree held and took a mini-break for a 2-0 lead en route to a 4-1 advantage. Boxx held her next two serves and took one of two from Embree to tighten things at 5-4, with Boxx heading to the baseline for the next two serves.
Embree buckled down and won the last two points to win the match 6-4, 7-6 (4) and help the Gators win their 20th consecutive dual match for the first time since a 53-match winning streak that began on Feb. 11, 1998 and ended on April 25, 1999, in the SEC Tournament final by Ole Miss.
“This is the first time a pressure match has come down to Lauren’s court,” Thornqvist said. “Even though there were other matches still being played, in the back of her mind I think she thought that she would be the one to clinch. I was really happy to see her performance at the end. She had a chance to win it before the tiebreak, but Kristi Boxx played a good point on our match-point. It came down to playing good tennis under pressure and Lauren hit a big forehand winner to win it for us.”
The Gators and Hurricanes (20-5) have not played each other since Feb. 18, 2007, when Florida earned the thrilling 4-3 victory in Gainesville. Florida leads the all-time series against Miami, 33-21, with the teams tied 2-2 in NCAA meetings. The last NCAA matchup came in the 2004 NCAA second round, when the Hurricanes stunned the Gators, 4-3, in Gainesville.
“I told our team after the match in the locker room that you can’t come to this even and not expect to be pushed. If you’re going to be a champion, you’re going to have to get through tight spots and play your best when nerves come into play,” Thornqvist said. “Sometimes it’s things other than serves, forehands and backhands and will decide a match. Today, I think that we showed that not only are we a good tennis team and we’re young with a lot of freshmen, but we also showed a lot of grit and that’s what it’s going to take to advance.”
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
TEAM COMPETITION / ROUND OF 16 / Dan Magill Tennis Complex, University of Georgia / Athens, Ga. / Thursday, May 20
No. 3 FLORIDA 4, No. 17 MISSISSIPPI 1
DOUBLES
1. (5) Marrit Boonstra-Allie Will (F) def. (12) Kristi Boxx-Karen Nijssen, 8-6; 2. Connor Vogel-Gabby Rangel (M) def. (29) Lauren Embree-Joanna Mather, 9-7; 3. Carolina Hitimana-Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Abby Guthrie-Laura van de Stroet, 8-4. Order of finish: 3, 2, 1. Florida wins doubles point, 2-1.
SINGLES
1. (9) Lauren Embree (F) def. (44) Kristi Boxx, 6-4, 7-6 (4); 2. (8) Allie Will (F) def. (115) Karen Nijssen, 6-1, 6-2; 3. (65) Marrit Boonstra (F) def. Connor Vogel, 6-1, 6-2; 4. Abby Guthrie (M) def. (102) Anastasia Revzina, 6-4, 6-4; 5. Laura van de Stroet (M) led Joanna Mather (F), 6-2, 3-6, 5-4 DNF; 6. Gabby Rangel (M) vs. (106) Caroline Hitimana (F), 7-6, 5-7, 1-0 DNF. Order of finish: 3, 2, 4, 1.
Records: Florida 27-2, Mississippi 17-6.
No. 11 MIAMI (FLA.) 4, No. 5 NORTHWESTERN 1
DOUBLES
1. (6) Gabriela Mejia-Laura Vallverdu (M) def. (59) Linda Abu Mushrefova-Lauren Lui, 8-5; 2. (36) Bianca Eichkorn-Anna Bartenstein (M) def. Elena Chernyakova-Maria Mosolova, 9-7; 3. Samantha Murray-Kate Turvy (N) def. Danielle Mills-Claudia Wasilewski, 8-1. Order of finish: 3, 1, 2. Miami wins doubles point, 2-1.
SINGLES
1. (7) Laura Vellverdu (M) def. (13) Maria Mosolova, 6-2, 6-3; 2. (40) Bianca Eichkorn (M) def. (41) Samantha Murray, 6-2, 7-5; 3. (84) Anna Bartenstein (M) def. Lauren Lui, 6-2, 6-4; 4. Kate Turvy (N) def. Danielle Mills, 6-4, 6-2; 5. (113) Gabriela Mejia (M) vs. Linda Abu Mushrefova (N), 2-6, 6-2, 2-0 DNF; 6. Claudia Wasilewski (M) vs. Stacey Lee (N), 7-5, 2-3, DNF. Order of finish: 3, 1, 4, 2).
Records: Miami 20-5, Northwestern 23-7.
ROUND OF 16 / Thursday, May 20
(1) Baylor 4, (16) Texas 0
(8) Stanford 4, (9) Clemson 0
(5) Notre Dame 5, (12) California 2
(13) Tennessee 4, (4) Michigan 0
(2) North Carolina 4, (15) Florida State 1
(10) Duke 4, (7) UCLA 2
(3) Florida 4, Mississippi 1
(11) Miami, Fla. 4, (6) Northwestern 1
QUARTERFINALS / Saturday, May 22
(3) Florida (27-2) vs. (11) Miami, Fla. (20-5), 1 p.m.
(2) North Carolina (29-4) vs. (10) Duke (22-7), 2 p.m.
(5) Notre Dame (26-3) vs. (13) Tennessee (19-8), 4 p.m.
(1) Baylor (30-2) vs. (8) Stanford (23-1), 5 p.m.
SEMIFINALS / Monday, May 24
Florida / Miami winner vs. North Carolina / Duke winner, 1 p.m.
Notre Dame / Tennessee winner vs. Baylor / Stanford winner, 2 p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP / Tuesday, May 25
Semifinal winners, 2 p.m. (ESPNU)