STARKVILLE, Miss. – Coming off a 12-day break, the No. 4 Florida women’s tennis team looked sharp in racing pass Mississippi State, 7-0, Friday afternoon at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre.
The Gators won 48 of the 53 games played at the top four singles positions and 72 of 88 overall, blazing to a 5-0 lead in the team scoring to secure the victory and improve to 15-2 overall and 5-0 in Southeastern Conference matches.
“You’re never quite sure how your team will react after not playing for a while, but I must say that having the weekend off really helped,” said Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist. “We were as sharp today as we have been all season. I think we showed that have improved in some offensive areas in doubles as well as in singles.”
Freshman Allie Will won her team-leading 15th consecutive singles match, downing Olesya Tsigivntseva, 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 2 spot. Will is 15-0 in dual-match singles action and is a team-best 35-3 overall.
Senior Anastasia Revzina followed with a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Valeriya Makarycheva on court No. 4, as the Gator senior improved to 92-24 in her singles career, including an impressive 34-2 singles record in SEC dual matches.
Freshman Lauren Embree clinched the dual-match victory with a 6-0, 6-0 decision over Radka Ferancova at No. 1. The double-bagel win was the first in her career.
Senior Marrit Boonstra then turned in a 6-1, 6-0 decision against Natalia Mayuk at No. 3, where she improved to 22-3 all-time in SEC dual matches.
Sophomore Joanna Mather scored a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Mariia Ryzhova at No. 5, while sophomore newcomer Claire Bartlett earned a 6-3, 6-4 win at No. 6 singles.
Florida swept all three doubles matches, winning the initial team point for the 16th time in its 17 matches this year. Boonstra and Will, now ranked No. 3 nationally, won 8-0 at No. 1. Embree and Revzina teamed for the 8-2 victory at No. 2 and Bartlett and Mather were 8-4 winners at No. 3.
The Gators return home Sunday to play Mississippi at 10 a.m. The starting time was moved up in anticipation of afternoon rain.
No. 4 FLORIDA 7, No. 57 MISSISSIPPI STATE 0
At A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre, Starkville, Miss.
DOUBLES
1. (3) Allie Will-Marrit Boonstra (F) def. Radka Ferancova-Danielle Terpko, 8-0; 2. (63) Lauren Embree-Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Olesya Tsigivntseva-Natalia Mayuk, 8-2; 3.Claire Bartlett-Joanna Mather (F) def. Valeriya Makarycheva-Mariia Ryzhova, 8-4. Order of finish: 1, 2, 3. Florida wins doubles point.
SINGLES
1. (17) Lauren Embree (F) def. Radka Ferancova, 6-0, 6-0; 2. (9) Allie Will (F) def. Olesya Tsigvintseva, 6-1, 6-1; 3. (69) Marrit Boonstra (F) def. Natalia Mayuk, 6-1, 6-0; 4. (122) Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Valeriya Makarycheva, 6-1, 6-1; 5. Joanna Mather (F) def. Marija Ryzhova, 6-2, 6-2; 6. Claire Bartlett (F) def. Danielle Terpko, 6-3, 6-4. Order of finish: 2, 4, 1, 3, 5, 6.
Records: Florida 15-2, 5-0 SEC; Mississippi State 9-6, 1-4 SEC.