MADISON, Wis. – The No. 7 Florida women’s tennis team suffered its first loss of the season Saturday evening when No. 2 Northwestern earned a 4-3 victory in the quarterfinals of the ITA National Indoor Team Championship at the University of Wisconsin’s Nielson Tennis Center.
Northwestern sophomore Elena Chernyakova beat Florida sophomore Claire Bartlett, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5, at No. 6 singles to provide the winning point for the Wildcats, who move into today’s semifinals against California.
Florida, now 7-1, and Northwestern were scheduled to play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. When they finally did play, the match ended at 12:30 Eastern time Sunday morning.
Florida looked to be in great shape when it won the first and second doubles matches to clinch the point. The No. 26 team of Marritt Boonstra and Allie Will won 8-3 at No. 1 and Lauren Embree and Anastasia Revzina won 8-4 at No. 2. But then five of the six singles matches went three sets. Florida’s two singles wins came at No. 2 from Will and at No. 3 from Boonstra.
ITA NATIONAL TEAM INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIP
At Nielson Tennis Center, Madison, Wis.
No. 2 NORTHWESTERN 4, No. 7 FLORIDA 3
Doubles
1. (26) Marritt Boonstra-Allie Will (F) def. Elena Chernyakova-Lauren Lui, 8-3; 2. Lauren Embree-Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Maria Mosolova-Brittany Wowchuk, 8-4; 3. Caroline Hitimana-Joanna Mather (F) led Samantha Murray-Kate Turvy, 5-3, when Florida clinched the doubles point. Order of finish: 1, 2.
Singles
1. (12) Maria Mosolova (N) def. (15) Lauren Embree, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2; 2. (13) Allie Will def. (48) Samantha Murray, 5-7, 6-4, 7-6; 3. (81) Marritt Boonstra (F) def. Kate Turvy, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; 4. Lauren Lui (N) def. (92) Anastasia Revzina, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3; 5. Brittany Wowchuk (N) def. Carolina Hitimana, 6-2, 6-3; 6. Elena Chernyakova (N) def. Claire Bartlett, 4-6, 7-6, 7-5. Order of finish: 5, 3, 1, 4, 2, 6.
Records: Florida 7-1, Northwestern 6-0.