AUBURN, Ala. — The No. 5 Florida women’s tennis team defeated Auburn, 6-1, Friday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center. The match was the Gators’ first true road match of the season and coach Roland Thornqvist liked how his team responded.
“We were sharp from start to finish,” Thornqvist said. “We started very solid in doubles and in singles we had great focus. Overall, we played really good tennis today.”
Florida dropped a total of six games in the three 8-game pro-set doubles matches en route to winning the initial point of the dual match for the 13th time this season.
The Gators then turned their attention to the singles court, where freshman Allie Will was the first off the court for the second consecutive match, earning a 6-0, 6-2 win at the No. 2 position. Senior Marrit Boonstra followed with an impressive 6-1, 6-0 decision on court No. 3, before sophomore newcomer Claire Bartlett provided the clinching win with a 6-0, 6-1 mark at the No. 5 spot.
Freshman Lauren Embree earned another impressive win against a nationally-ranked foe on the showcase court, downing No. 76 Fani Chifchieva, 6-4, 6-2. Senior Anastasia Revzina extended the Gator lead to 6-0 after her 6-2, 6-4 victory at the No. 4 spot.
Freshman Brittany Borsanyi tried to give the Gators the sweep, but just missed, as she lost her SEC singles debut in the three-setter, falling 10-6 in the tiebreaker.
Florida visits Alabama Sunday.
No. 5 FLORIDA 6, AUBURN 1
At Yarbrough Tennis Center, Auburn, Ala.
DOUBLES
1. (6) Marritt Boonstra-Allie Will (F) def. Fani Chifchieva-Jil Hastenrath, 8-2; 2. (34) Lauren Embree-Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Plamena Kurteva-Paulina Schippers, 8-1; 3. Brittany Borsanyi-Claire Bartlett (F) def. Myrthe Molenveld-Taylor Schreimann, 8-3. Order of finish: 2, 1, 3. Florida wins doubles point.
SINGLES
1. (15) Lauren Embree (F) def. (76) Fani Chifchieva, 6-4, 6-2; 2. (11) Allie Will (F) def. Caroline Thornton, 6-0, 6-2; 3. (62) Marritt Boonstra (F) def. Myrthe Molenveld, 6-1, 6-0; 4. (106) Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Paulina Schippers, 6-2, 6-4; 5. Claire Bartlett (F) def. Jil Hastenrath, 6-0, 6-1; 6. Plamena Kurteva (A) def. Brittany Borsanyi, 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-6). Order of finish: 2, 3, 5, 1, 4, 6.
Records: Florida 12-2, 3-0 SEC; Auburn 6-5, 0-3 SEC.