KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Florida’s big showdown weekend started off on the right note when the fourth-ranked women’s tennis team earned a hard-fought 6-1 road victory over No. 16 Tennessee. The Gators (19-2, 9-0 SEC East) visit No. 14 Georgia Sunday in a match that will determine the No. 1 seed for the SEC Women’s Championships.
The Gators won the doubles point then captured the No. 1 and No. 6 singles positions in straight sets to jump out to a 3-0 lead. The remaining four singles matches went to three sets and Florida won three of those to secure the victory and capture its 12th consecutive dual match.
“Today was a real gut-check, with four three-setters and tough doubles matches,” Florida coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We’ve been preparing for a match like this and I was happy with how we responded to the challenge of playing on the road. We were down for the first 40 minutes of singles and it didn’t look good. I have to give Tennessee all kinds of credit because they stormed out of the shoot in singles and played high-level tennis. It took everything we had to win here today.”
On Friday, Florida changed its doubles pairings at the No. 2 and 3 positions and it proved successful. The No. 2 team of Lauren Embree and Joanna Mather paired for the first time ever, while the No. 3 team of Caroline Hitimana and Anastasia Revzina were playing just their second match together. Embree and Mather downed Tennessee’s No. 22-ranked team of Rosalia Alda and Zsofia Zubor, 8-4, and then Hitimana and Revzina scored a 9-7 victory over Tennessee’s Kata Szekely and Katie Lee to give the Gators the doubles point. Florida’s top doubles pair of Marrit Boonstra and Allie West saw its nine-match winning streak halted in an 8-6 loss to Tennessee’s Caitlin Whoriskey and Marie Sorbello.
“Ultimately, I think these two teams will give us the best chance,” Thornqvist said. “We gained leadership at No. 3 and that’s what we need and could be the difference down the road. At No. 2 we looked really, really good and beat a very talented doubles teams today.”
Sophomore newcomer Claire Bartlett earned Florida’s first singles point with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Szekely at No. 6 singles. Embree then followed with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over No. 11 Whoriskey at No. 1 singles for a 3-0 Florida lead. Embree, ranked 14th nationally, won for the 11th straight time.
Tennessee (12-7, 6-3 SEC) then got on the board with a win on court No. 5, where Jennifer Meredith topped Joanna Mather, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0. But Will provided the clinching victory when she beat Maria Sorbello, 7-5, 3-6, 6-0 at No. 2 singles for her 18th straight singles victory. Marrit Boonstra followed with a 6-7, 6-2, 6-1 decision at the No. 3 spot and Anastasia Revzina ended the dual match with a 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory on court No. 4.
No. 4 FLORIDA 6, No. 16 TENNESSEE 1
At Barksdale Stadium, Knoxville, Tenn.
DOUBLES
1. (66) Caitlin Whoriskey-Marie Sorbello (T) def. (5) Marrit Boonstra-Allie Will, 8-6; 2. Lauren Embree-Joanna Mather (F) def. (22) Rosalia Alda-Zsofia Zubor, 8-4; 3. Caroline Hitimana-Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Kata Szekely-Katie Lee, 9-7. Order of finish: 2, 3, 1. Florida wins doubles point, 2-1.
SINGLES
1. (14) Lauren Embree (F) def. (11) Caitlin Whoriskey, 6-4, 7-5; 2. (9) Allie Will (F) def. (67) Maria Sorbello, 7-5, 3-6, 6-0; 3. (79) Marrit Boonstra (F) def. Rosalia Alda, 6-7, 6-2, 6-1; 4. Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Zsofia Zubor, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5; 5. Jennifer Meredith (T) def. Joanna Mather, 6-4, 4-6, 6-0; 6. Claire Bartlett (F) def. Kata Szekely, 6-1, 6-2. Order of finish: 6, 1, 5, 2, 3, 4.
Records: Florida 19-2, 9-0 SEC East; Tennessee 12-7, 6-3 SEC East.
SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
East Division Conference Overall
(Rnk) Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct.
(4) Florida 9-0 1.000 19-2 .905
(14) Georgia 8-1 .889 12-5 .706
(15) South Carolina 7-2 .778 14-5 .737
(16) Tennessee 6-3 .667 12-7 .632
(31) Vanderbilt 5-4 .556 10-8 .556
Kentucky 0-9 .000 2-15 .118
West Division Conference Overall
(Rnk) Team W-L Pct. W-L Pct.
(18) Mississippi 6-3 .667 12-4 .750
(23) Arkansas 4-5 .444 14-8 .636
(70) Louisiana State 4-5 .444 9-12 .429
(57) Auburn 2-7 .222 8-9 .471
Alabama 2-7 .222 9-10 .474
(66) Mississippi State 1-8 .111 9-10 .472
RESULTS
FRIDAY / April 9
Florida 6, Tennessee 1
Georgia 5, South Carolina 2
Louisiana State 6, Kentucky 1
Mississippi 4, Auburn 3
Alabama 5, Mississippi State 2
Vanderbilt 4, Arkansas 3
SUNDAY / April 11
Florida at Georgia, 1 p.m.
Arkansas at Kentucky, 1 p.m.
Louisiana State at Vanderbilt, 1 p.m.
South Carolina at Tennessee, 1 p.m.
Mississippi at Alabama, 2 p.m.
Mississippi State at Auburn, 2 p.m.
SATURDAY / April 17
Florida at South Carolina, 1 p.m.
Tennessee at Georgia, 12 p.m.
Mississippi at Mississippi State, 12 p.m.
Kentucky at Vanderbilt, 1 p.m.
Arkansas at Louisiana State, 2 p.m.
Alabama at Auburn, 7 p.m.
THURSDAY-SUNDAY / April 22-25
SEC Championships at Georgia
ITA WOMEN’S RANKINGS
April 6, 2010
1. Baylor; 2. North Carolina; 3. Michigan; 4. Florida; 5. Northwestern; 6. Notre Dame; 7. Duke; 8. UCLA; 9. Clemson; 10. Miami, Fla.
11. Stanford; 12. California; 13. Florida State; 14. Georgia; 15. South Carolina; 16. Tennessee; 17. Southern California; 18. Mississippi; 19. South Florida; 20. Georgia Tech;
21. Arizona State; 22. Iowa; 23. Arkansas; 24. Virginia Commonwealth; 25. Washington; 26. DePaul; 27. Texas; 28. Princeton; 29. Southern Methodist; 30. Ohio State;
31. Vanderbilt; 32. North Carolina State; 33. Long Beach State; 34. Indiana; 35. UNLV; 36. Illinois; 37. Oklahoma; 38. Tulsa; 39. Utah; 40. Virginia;
41. Texas A&M; 42. Rice; 43. FIU; 44. Boise State; 45. Nebraska; 46. Yale; 47. Purdue; 48. Dartmouth; 49. Sacramento State; 50. Wake Forest;
51. William and Mary; 52. Saint Mary’s; 53. Harvard; 54. Pepperdine; 55. Marshall; 56. Arizona; 57. Auburn; 58. Cal Poly; 59. Oklahoma State; 60. Minnesota;
61. East Tennessee State; 62. North Florida; 63. Akron; 64. San Diego; 65. Brown; 66. Mississippi State; 67. Charleston Southern; 68. College of Charleston; 69. Virginia Tech; 70. Louisiana State; 71. Winthrop; 72. UC Irvine; 73. Texas Christian; 74. North Texas; 75. Nevada.