The
University of Florida women’s tennis team capped a successful weekend with
Sunday’s 4-0 victory against Tennessee at Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex.
The
fourth-ranked Gators (11-2, 4-1 SEC), who have won their last 73 matches at the
Ring Tennis Complex versus Southeastern Conference opponents, also extended
their overall home win streak to 115, the longest active home winning streak by
any NCAA Division I women’s team in any sport.
Tennessee
(5-6, 3-2 SEC) won the first doubles match of the match, but Florida earned
victories on courts two and three to collect the initial point of the dual
match. The Gators then received straight-set singles wins from Caroline
Hitimana, Olivia Janowicz and Lauren Embree to improve their home record
against SEC teams to 181-1 all-time.
“Today’s
match was okay,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “It’s human
nature, when after the emotional win against Georgia on Friday, to be a little
flat today. We tried to talk about that. At the start of doubles I thought we
were pretty flat. Once we got going we were okay. In singles we did a good job,
too. It wasn’t anything really to write home about, quite frankly, but after the
intensity of the Georgia match, it’s hard to saddle up a little.”
Florida
Caroline Hitimana (Belgium) was the first off the singles court with her
6-1, 6-2 victory against Sarah Toti on court six, where the Gator senior collected
her 30th consecutive dual match singles victory and improved to 6-0 in team
action this year, while giving Florida a 2-0 lead in the team scoring. Hitimana,
who was the fourth to finish her first set, jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the
match before Toti finally held and won her only game of the day, as Hitimana
won the final eight games of the match.
Olivia
Janowicz
(Palm Bay, Fla.) followed four minutes later with a 6-2, 6-2 win against Mimi
Fotopoulos on court five, where she raced out to a 3-0 lead. The next three
games were holds, before the two competitors traded breaks, before the Gator junior
earned her third break of the frame to claim the first set. The first break of
the second set was in Janowicz’s favor in the fourth game and she rode that to
a 5-1 lead and later earned one final break for the victory. The singles win
was the 80th of the career for Janowicz, who is 24-6 this season.
Lauren
Embree
(Marco Island, Fla.) provided the clinching match victory with a 6-3, 6-1
decision against Brynn Boren on court one in one hour and 38 minutes. The two
traded breaks early in the first set and Embree collected her second of the set
in the sixth game and then held for the 5-2 lead. Boren held server in a long
eighth game before Embree headed to the baseline to serve for the opening frame,
where she fought off two break points and capitalized on her initial set point.
She carried that momentum into the second, where she held serve throughout,
winning the first four games en route to the victory which capped her 29th
consecutive dual match singles win. The victory also was Embree’s 214 combined
singles and doubles win, as she moved into sole possession of 10th all-time in
Gator history.
Florida
led in the remaining three singles matches, with Sofie Oyen, Alexandra
Cercone and Brianna Morgan each having won their respective first
sets and were at least on-serve in the second when play was abandoned.
Tennessee’s
fourth-ranked pair of Brynn Boren and Kata Szekely earned an 8-2 win against Alexandra
Cercone and Sofie Oyen and put pressure on Florida’s other two
doubles teams to win both matches to claim the doubles point. The Gators did
just that, with Caroline Hitimana and Olivia Janowicz rallying
for the 8-4 victory against Mimi Fotopoulos and Sarah Toti, before Lauren
Embree and Brianna Morgan clinched the doubles point with an 8-5
decision over Joanna Henderson and Caitlyn Williams.
Hitimana
and Janowicz were trailing 3-0, down two breaks, before beginning their
comeback with a break in the fourth game. After Janowicz held, the Gators won
12 of the next 15 points and took a 5-3 lead. The Lady Vols regrouped and broke
right back, but so did Florida and Hitimana held for the 7-4 advantage. The
Gators then capitalized on their second match-point to earn the victory.
On
court two, 10 of 13 games were breaks, with the Morgan holding in the fifth and
13th games the difference in the 8-game pro-set. The Gator rookie held at love
in that fifth game, as Florida won eight straight points for the 5-2 lead.
Tennessee was able to break, Henderson and then the Vols broke again and were
serving down 5-4. The Gators were able to bounce back and stop the run with a
break, but were unable to hold as Henderson again went to the baseline trying
to get the match back on-serve. The Gators, however, captured the next game on
their second break-point try and Morgan served out at love for the win.
Florida
continues its four-match homestand on Friday, when the team plays host to No. 8
Alabama. First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the first 250 fans receive
Florida Tennis Croakies. Additionally, two contestants will alternate serving
tennis balls at strategically placed empty pizza boxes and the winner receives
a free pizza.
