1The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth. 2Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth. 4I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 5Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you. 6They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth. 9I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will have nothing to do with us. 10So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, gossiping maliciously about us. Not satisfied with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church. 11Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God. 12Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself. We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true. 13I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. 14I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send their greetings. Greet the friends there by name.

The second-ranked University of Florida women’s tennis team opened its 2010-11 dual match season with a 7-0 shutout against UCF on Wednesday evening at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.

“I thought we did well for the first time out,” said UF head coach Roland Thornqvist, who sports a 293-79 record in 15 years of collegiate coaching, including a 218-29 mark in 10 seasons with the Gators. “Everyone was real eager to play and maybe a little nervous on some of the courts, but we competed well. In the few instances when we had to figure out how to play better and figure a way to win, we were able to do so. We will be a better team on Saturday because of today.”

On Saturday, the Gators play host the opening rounds of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend representing the start of the 64-team ITA National Team Indoor Championships. Florida faces College of Charleston on Saturday at 10 a.m. in one first round match, while Winthrop and the College of William and Mary battle at 1 p.m. in the other match held in Gainesville.

The consolation match will be played on Sunday at 10 a.m. and the winners meet at 1 p.m. for the right to advance to the round of 16 held in Madison, Wis., February 18-21.

Florida earned its first point of the 2011 dual match season in 37 minutes thanks to efficient wins by the No. 1 and No. 3 doubles teams.

Freshman Sofie Oyen (Belgium) and sophomore Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.), who ranked as the No. 1 doubles team in the country, needed only 35 minutes to earn an 8-1 victory against Jenny Frisell and Alexis Rodriguez. The tandem of freshman Alex Cercone (Seminole, Fla.) and sophomore Caroline Hitimana (Belgium) then provided the clinching doubles-point win with their 8-1 decision against Taylor Dubins and Andrea Yacaman.

Sophomore Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) and junior Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) polished off the doubles sweep with their 8-6 victory against UCF’s 44th-ranked duo of Courtney Griffith and Genevieve Lorgergs on court No. 2.

UF’s singles lineup featured three freshmen and three sophomores and while some nerves might have been swirling, none showed as the Gators dropped a combined seven games in the first set on all six courts, en route to UF winning its 27th consecutive season opener.

Will opened the year on court No. 1 and gave the Gators a 2-0 lead in the team scoring after she downed Frisell, 6-1, 6-0, capping the match by breaking the Knight at love for the 52-minute victory.

Freshman Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) clocked in her first collegiate dual match victory three minutes later, as she just missed the double-bagel on court No. 4 against Jenna Doefler, who held in the fourth game of the second set with Janowicz earning the 6-0, 6-1 win.

Oyen provided the clinching dual match point with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Lorbergs at the No. 3 spot. There were five straight breaks midway through the first set, before Oyen ended the trend and served out for the set, 6-3. She then jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second as she captured the 6-3, 6-2 victory in 64 minutes.

Hitimana needed six more minutes to close out her 6-0, 6-2 victory against Josephine Haraldson at the No. 6 court, just moments before Cercone downed Griffith, 6-1, 6-3, at the No. 5 position.

Embree, who was playing her first singles match since last year’s NCAA Singles Championships on May 26, 2010, dusted off the rust and raced out to a quick 4-0 lead against Rodriguez. The 2010 ITA National Freshman of the Year and 2010 Southeastern Conference Player of the Year battled through that first frame that featured five breaks to take the set, 6-2. Embree then found herself down a quick break, 2-0, to start the second, before ripping off the next three games, as she held at love and got the set back on-serve. Both competitors held serve the next four games and Embree dug deep to collect her sixth break of the match, doing so at love to take the victory, 6-2, 7-5.

Wednesday’s victory was Florida’s 92^nd consecutive regular-season home win, as well as its 83^rd straight overall home victory.

Women’s College Tennis

UCF at No. 2 Florida

Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex

Gainesville, Fla.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Final Score: Florida 7, UCF 0

Doubles

1. (1) Sofie Oyen/Allie Will, UF d. Jenny Frisell/Alexis Rodriguez, UCF, 8-1

2. Lauren Embree/Joanna Mather, UF d. (44) Courtney Griffith/Genevieve Lorbergs, UCF, 8-6

3. Alex Cercone/Caroline Hitimana, UF d. Taylor Dubins/Andrea Yacaman, UCF, 8-1*

Singles

1. (7) Allie Will, UF d. Jenny Frisell, UCF, 6-1, 6-0

2. Lauren Embree, UF d. Alexis Rodriguez, UCF, 6-2, 7-5

3. (96) Sofie Oyen, UF d. Genevieve Lorbergs, UCF, 6-3, 6-2*

4. (22) Olivia Janowicz, UF d. Jenna Doefler, UCF, 6-0, 6-1

5. (28) Alex Cercone, UF d. Courtney Griffith, UCF, 6-1, 6-3

6. Caroline Hitimana, UF d. Josephine Haraldson, UCF, 6-0, 6-2

Order of Finish: Doubles: 1, 3*, 2; Singles 1, 4, 3*, 6, 5, 2

*indicates clinching doubles point and dual match victory

Records: Florida 1-0; UCF 1-1