The top-ranked University of Florida women’s tennis team capped a busy road week with a 7-0 sweep against No. 16 Arkansas Sunday afternoon at Billingsley Tennis Center.
After defeating instate foe and 22nd-ranked Florida State, 6-1, in Tallahassee, the Gators opened their Southeastern Conference schedule with a 6-0 win against LSU in Baton Rouge, before Sunday’s sweep that marked Florida’s 16th consecutive SEC regular-season victory, which included a 11-0 record in 2009-10 and the final three of the 2008-09 campaign.
The Gators (13-1, 2-0 SEC) captured the doubles point for the 12th time this year, en route to jumping out to the early team lead. Florida then stepped up by winning five singles matches in straight sets, one in a traditional three-setter and winning the final one in a third-set 10-point super tiebreaker.
I was very impressed with our play today, we looked very disciplined,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We competed very, very, well and that’s something we’ve been talking about since the National Team Indoors. We’ve been more professional in our behavior on the court and were again today. When we can play that way we become a much tougher team. Overall, it was a great weekend for the Gators and we really look forward to playing some matches at home, starting with a great opponent in Alabama.”
Sophomore Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) raced out and defeated Kate Lukomskaya, 6-1, 6-1, at the No. 2 position, before her fellow classmate Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) downed Jade Frampton, 6-3, 6-0, on court No. 6 and Florida was within point singles victory of the dual match win.
That clinching victory came on court No. 4, where freshman Alex Cercone (Seminole, Fla.) earned a 6-4, 6-4 decision against Claudine Paulson.
Sophomore and seventh-ranked Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) followed with a 6-2, 6-2 win against 23rd-ranked Anouk Tigu on the showcase court.
Junior Joanna Mather’s (Duluth, Ga.) match against Stephanie Roy already began a third set when the dual match was clinched and were forced to play out the third in using the traditional tennis scoring and Mather emerged with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 victory.
Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) lost her first set to Emily Carbone in a tiebreaker, but rallied to win the second and forced a third, where it was played as a 10-point super-tiebreaker because Florida already captured the team victory. The Gator freshman completed the comeback with a 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-5) win to complete the sweep.
Florida next plays host to No. 34 Alabama on the Fri., March 11 beginning at 5 p.m. Admission to the match at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex is free.
No. 1 Florida at No. 16 Arkansas
Billingsley Tennis Center * Fayetteville, Ark.
Sunday, March 06, 2011
Final Score: Florida 7, Arkansas 0
Doubles
1. Allie Will/Alex Cercone, UF d. #34 Anouk Tigu/Claudine Paulson, UA, 8-5
2. Lauren Embree/Caroline Hitimana, UF d. Kate Lukomskaya/Stephanie Roy, UA, 8-4*
3. Olivia Janowicz/Sofie Oyen, UF d. Jade Frampton/Emily Carbone, UA, 8-1
Order of Finish: 3, 2*, 1
Singles
1. #7 Allie Will, UF d. #23 Anouk Tigu, UA, 6-2, 6-2
2. #26 Lauren Embree, UF d. Kate Lukomskaya, UA, 6-1, 6-1
3. #21 Joanna Mather, UF d. Stephanie Roy, UA, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1
4. #35 Alex Cercone, UF d. Claudine Paulson, UA, 6-4, 6-4*
5. #34 Olivia Janowicz, UF d. Emily Carbone, UA, 6-7, 6-2, 1-0 (10-5)
6. #125 Caroline Hitimana, UF d. Jade Frampton, UA, 6-3, 6-0
Order of Finish: 2, 6, 4*, 1, 3, 5
