Fifth-ranked
Florida won a thrilling doubles point and took that momentum onto the singles
court where they raced to big leads early en route to a 7-0 victory against
South Carolina at Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex and on warm and
breezy Saturday afternoon.
The
Gators improved to 179-1 all-time at home against Southeastern Conference foes
and have won their last 71 at the Ring Tennis Complex versus league opponents.
Florida
(9-2, 2-1 SEC) also extended its overall home win streak to 113, the longest
active home winning streak by any NCAA Division I women’s team in any sport.
The
Gators were using a new doubles lineup this week and put to the test by the
Gamecocks, who split the first two matches and were rallying in the deciding
match. Florida jumped out to a 7-1 lead and South Carolina tied the score,
before the Gators regrouped and took the 9-7 and the doubles point.
“That
was a great win and gave us a lot of momentum and confidence in the locker room
between doubles and singles,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “I’m
really proud of the way they found their composure and were able to close out
the win.
“Overall,
this was an impressive win,” Thornqvist continued. “I thought we looked strong
on every court and played smart tennis.”
Florida
was dominant on the singles courts, winning two games on all six courts and
eventually the opening set on each.
Freshman
Brianna Morgan raced out to a commanding lead en route to the first
double-bagel victory of her career, as she downed Dominika Kanakova, 6-0, 6-0
on court four and gave the Gators a 2-0 lead. The Gator rookie fought off a
pair of break points in the final game before taking the victory on her first
match point. Morgan improved to 17-5 overall and 8-1 in dual match singles
action.
Olivia
Janowicz
won the opening seven games of her match against Ximena Siles Luna, who finally
held and prevented the double-bagel. The Gator junior returned to form and
ripped off the final three games, also having to stave off a pair of break
points in the final game before capturing the win on her second match-point
opportunity and giving Florida a 3-0 lead in the team scoring.
Sofie
Oyen
won the first eight games on court two against Jaklin Alawi, until the Gamecock
earned a break and held to even the second set 2-all and prevented Oyen’s
second double-bagel win of the season. The Gator junior regrouped and won the
final four games, breaking to win the match and clinching the dual match
victory, as she collect the 74th singles win of her career.
Caroline
Hitimana
was the fourth Gator to win her respective singles match, as she earned a 6-2,
6-1 win against Josefin Andersson on court six and extended Florida’s advantage
to 5-0. The victory was Hitimana’s 27th consecutive dual match singles win, as
the Gator senior improved to 17-1 all-time in SEC dual matches.
Lauren
Embree
had a double-bagel lead through 11 games, but Katerina Popova managed to hold
serve and then broke before Embree captured another break to take the win on
court one, 6-0, 6-2. The victory was Embree’s 26th consecutive dual match win,
her 32nd straight in SEC dual matches (32-0) and the 105th overall of her
career.
Alexandra
Cercone
won the first three games of her match on court three versus Elixane Lechemia,
who stormed back and won the next three. Cercone held and then earned a break,
but couldn’t close out the set on her serve, instead breaking Lechemia to
capture the first set, 6-4. Lechemia got the upper hand early in the second
set, eventually taking it 6-3 and forcing a deciding 10-point super-tiebreak
where the Gator junior won the first four points. After Lechemia won the next
three, Cercone ripped off the last seven points to win the final match on
court, 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-3), in two hours and three minutes.
Caroline
Hitimana and Olivia Janowicz paired together for the first time this year in a
dual match and the tandem jumped out to a 7-1 lead on court three, where the
doubles point was to be decided after the other two matches had split results.
The
victory wasn’t a sure thing, however, as South Carolina’s Elixane Lechemia and
Ximena Siles Luna caught fire and won six consecutive games, including two of
those games at love, and tied the score at 7-all with the serve. The Gators
fought back and earned a break before Hitimana served out for the 9-7 victory,
losing just one point on her serve and helped the Gators capture the doubles
point.
That
match on court three proved to be the clincher after Florida’s Lauren Embree
and Brianna Morgan earned an 8-2 victory on court two against Josefin Andersso
and Katerina Popova in 35 minutes. The Gators took a 4-0 lead before SC earned
a break and trailed 4-2. Embree held and the Gators broke a love for a 6-2
advantage. The Gamecocks broke right back, but the Gators earned their fourth
break of the match to take win.
Four
minutes later South Carolina (8-5, 1-2 SEC) captured its first individual of
the day, as Jakllin Alawi and Dominika Kanakova handed Alexandra Cercone and
Sofie Oyen an 8-1 setback, leaving court three to decide the doubles point.
