The No. 6 Florida women’s tennis team swept Louisiana State 7-0 Sunday at the Linder Stadium/Ring Tennis Complex. The victory was the 200th in the nine-year Florida career of head coach Roland Thornqvist.
“It’s clearly a byproduct of all the great players and the credit goes to them more than anything that I’ve done,” Thornqvist said following the victory that improved his record to 275-78 in 14 years as a head coach, including 200-28 at Florida. “We had much better focus (Sunday) than we had Friday night (in the 7-0 win against Arkansas) and I was very happy to see that.”
The Gators (10-2, 2-0 SEC) needed little time in winning the doubles point before turning their attention to the singles court where Florida won all six in straight sets. Florida’s win over LSU (2-8, 0-2 SEC) extended the program records to 76 consecutive home wins as well as 87 regular-season home victories.
Freshman Allie Will posted her third career double-bagel as she dropped Kailtin Burns, 6-0, 6-0, at the No. 2 position in 46 minutes. Senior Anastasia Revzina then downed Nicole Kantor, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 3 singles in 67 minutes and gave Florida a 3-0 lead. Freshman Caroline Hitimana provided the clinching point with a hard-fought 6-4, 6-1 over Gainesville native Keri Frankenberger at No. 4.
Sophomore Claire Bartlett scored a 6-0, 6-2 victory against Ebie Wilson at the No. 5 position and improved to 21-10 for the season. Sophomore Joanna Mather battled past Kylie Adamek, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 6 singles.
The featured match on court No. 1 didn’t disappoint, as Gator freshman Lauren Embree battled Whitney Wolf and collected the 6-1, 7-5 win. Embree held for a 5-3 lead in the second, but Wolf rallied and earned a break of her own after holding serve. The Gator rookie, however, broke again and served out for the impressive victory.
Florida’s No. 2 doubles team of Lauren Embree and Anastasia Revzina continued its recent dominance, improving to 13-1 overall and 10-0 in dual-match action, with an 8-0 victory over Keri Frankenberger and Hannah Robinson. Embree and Revzina lost one total point in the first three games and had very few where they surrendered two points in a game en route to their 11th consecutive victory.
Marrit Boonstra and Allie Will began their match on court No. 1 in a similar impressive fashion, racing out to a 5-0 lead on way to an 8-5 victory over Kaitlin Burns and Whitney Wolf.
Playing together for just the second time, Claire Bartlett and Brittany Borsanyi battled back from a 7-3 deficit to win 8-7 (7-4) against Nicole Kantor and Ebie Wilson at No. 3 doubles.
“That comeback at the No. 3 singles court was one of the highlights of the day,” Thornqvist said.
Florida puts its home streaks on the line Wednesday against No. 2 North Carolina at 5 p.m.
No. 6 FLORIDA 7, LOUISIANA STATE 0
At Linder Stadium/Ring Tennis Complex, Gainesville, Fla.
DOUBLES
1. (6) Marrit Boonstra-Allie Will (F) def. Kaitlin Burns-Whitney Wolf, 8-5; 2. (34) Lauren Embree-Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Keri Frankenberger-Hannah Robinson, 8-0; 3. Claire Bartlett-Brittany Borsanyi (F) def. Nicole Kantor-Ebie Wilson, 8-7 (4). Order of finish: 2, 1, 3.
SINGLES
1. (15) Lauren Embree (F) def. Whitney Wolf, 6-1, 7-5; 2. (11) Allie Will (F) def. Kaitlin Burns, 6-0, 6-0; 3. (105) Anastasia Revzina (F) def. Nicole Kantor, 6-1, 6-1; 4. (116) Caroline Hitimana (F) def. Keri Frankenberger, 6-4, 6-1; 5. Claire Bartlett (F) def. Ebie Wilson, 6-0, 6-2; 6. Joanna Mather (F) def. Kylie Adamek, 6-3, 6-2. Order of finish: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1.
Records: Florida 11-2, 2-0 SEC; LSU 2-8, 0-2 SEC.