ATHENS, Ga. – The No. 3 Florida women’s tennis team assured itself of a guaranteed bid to the 2010 NCAA Championships by beating No. 13 Tennessee, 4-1, in the championship match of the Southeastern Conference Women’s Tournament Sunday at the University of Georgia’s Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
It is Florida’s 16th SEC Tournament title in 21 trips to the finals. The Lady Vols (16-8) battled the Gators (24-2) hard seemingly for every point – the match took 3 hours, 23 minutes to complete – but in the end, it was Florida’s 14th straight victory against SEC competition this season (11-0 in regular season, 3-0 in the tournament).
“Tennessee was relentless and they fight like no other team,” Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “I have to give the credit to the girls. They wanted it and they came out and got it.”
Not only did the Gators complete the SEC tennis sweep but Marrit Boonstra also was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Sunday, the 75th-ranked Boonstra defeated Tennessee’s Rosalia Alda, 6-2, 7-5. Boonstra, a 5-11 senior from The Netherlands, went 3-0 in singles competition during the tournament and was 1-0 in doubles competition with freshman Allie Will. Boonstra and Will, the No. 4 doubles team in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings, went 1-0 in Florida’s three matches (two other matches didn’t start or finish because either the doubles point or match had already been clinched).
That was the case Sunday when Boonstra and Will met Tennessee’s No. 11-ranked team of Caitlin Whoriskey and Maria Sorbello at No. 1 doubles. The Florida duo trailed 5-6 in the match, but after Florida clinched the doubles point, the match at No. 1 was abandoned.
The Gators first got an 8-3 victory from the 69th-ranked team of Lauren Embree and Joanna Mather at No. 2 doubles and followed it with the clinching 8-5 victory by the No. 3 doubles team of Caroline Hitimana and Anastasia Revzina.
The Lady Vols evened the match at 1-1 when Zsofia Zubor beat No. 119 Revzina at No. 4 singles, 6-4, 6-3. Boonstra, however, got the Gators going again with her victory over Alda. Will, ranked No. 7 in singles by the ITA, then put Florida within a point of the victory with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Tennessee’s No. 58-ranked Maria Sorbello.
Meanwhile, the three other singles matches at Nos. 1, 5 and 6 were in their third set before the Gators eventually got the clinching point from freshman Caroline Hitimana.
“I looked up at the scoreboard and saw that I wasn’t playing well,” Hitimana said. “I knew that I had to fight harder to come out on top. This was my first SEC final and I am very excited to get the clinching point and win the championship.”
With Hitimana’s 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Tennessee’s Kata Szekely, the other singles matches were abandoned. No. 11 Embree led No. 8 Whoriskey, 4-6, 6-3, 4-2 at No. 1 singles, while the match at No. 5 between Mather and Tennessee’s Katie Lee was suspended with each player owning a 7-5 set victory.
The NCAA Women’s Championships returns to Georgia and begins Thursday, May 20.
SEC WOMEN’S TENNIS TOURNAMENT / CHAMPIONSHIP
At Dan Magill Tennis Complex, Athens, Ga.
No. 3 FLORIDA 4, No. 13 TENNESSEE 1
DOUBLES
1. (4) Marrit Boonstra-Allie Will (F) vs. (11) Caitlin Whoriskey-Maria Sorbello (T), 5-6, DNF; 2. (69) Lauren Embree-Joanna Mather (F) def. (24) Rosalia Alda-Zsofia Zubor, 8-3; 3. Caroline Hitimana-Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Natalie Pluskota-Jennifer Meredith, 8-5. Order of finish: 2, 3. Florida wins doubles points, 2-0.
SINGLES
1. (11) Lauren Embree (F) vs. (9) Caitlin Whoriskey (T), 4-6, 6-3, 4-2, DNF; 2. (7) Allie Will (F) def. (58) Maria Sorbello, 7-5, 6-2; 3. (75) Marrit Boonstra (F) def. Rosalia Alda, 6-2, 7-5; 4. Zsofia Zubor (T) def. (119) Anastasia Revzina, 6-4, 6-3; 5. Joanna Mather (F) vs. Katie Lee (T), 5-7, 7-5, DNF; 6. Caroline Hitimana (F) def. Kata Szekely, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Order of finish: 4, 3, 2, 6.
Records: Florida 24-2, Tennessee 16-8.