SEC Women's Tennis Tournament Day Three Update
4/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
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COMPLETE SEC TOURNAMENT INFORMATION:
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DAY THREE RESULTS:
Kentucky Downs UGA in SEC Semifinals
Tuscaloosa -- The third-ranked Kentucky Wildcats continued its roll through the 2005 Women’s Tennis Southeastern Conference Tournament Saturday with a 4-2 come-from-behind-win over seventh-ranked Georgia.
Kentucky’s Danielle Petrisko completed the comeback for Kentucky, who fell behind 1-0 after losing the doubles point, with a 6-4, 6-3 straight set win at No. 6 singles over Jitka Schonfeldova.
The win advances Kentucky to the Sunday’s Championship match at 12 p.m. and sets up a rematch with eighth-ranked Florida. The Wildcats defeated Florida 5-2 in Lexington earlier this season.
Kentucky fell behind early in the match when UGA’s Natalie Frazier and Jitka Schonfeldova clinched the doubles point in a tiebreaker, winning 9-8(7-4). However, the Wildcats weren’t fazed by the early deficit.
Kentucky stormed out in singles, winning five of the first six sets. All four of Kentucky’s singles wins on the day were straight-set victories.
Tennis Match Results
Georgia vs Kentucky
Apr 23, 2005 at Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Kentucky 4, Georgia 2
Singles competition:
1. Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) def. Natalie Frazier (UGA) 6-0, 6-3
2. Kim Coventry (UK) def. Shadisha Robinson (UGA) 6-2, 6-3
3. Caroline Basu (UGA) def. Sarah Foster (UK) 6-2, 6-3
4. Kelley Hyndman (UGA) vs. Joelle Schwenk (UK) no result
5. Lara Maurer (UK) def. Evgenia Subbotina (UGA) 6-1, 6-3
6. Danielle Petrisko (UK) def. Jitka Schonfeldova (UGA) 6-4, 6-3
Doubles competition:
1. Shadisha Robinson/Caroline Basu (UGA) def. Sarah Foster/Aibika Kalsarieva (UK) 8-5
2. Kim Coventry/Joelle Schwenk (UK) def. Kelley Hyndman/Evgenia Subbotina (UGA) 8-3
3. Natalie Frazier/Jitka Schonfeldova (UGA) def. Emily Foster/Lara Maurer (UK) 9-8 (7-4)
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (1,2,3); Singles (2,3,5,1,6)
Florida Advances to SEC Tournament Final with Upset over Vanderbilt
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Third-seeded Florida upset second-seeded Vanderbilt 4-1 in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference Women's Tennis Tournament Saturday afternoon at the Alabama Tennis Stadium. The Gators (17-2) face top-seeded and third-ranked Kentucky (23-4) in the final beginning at 1 p.m. ET.
Florida makes its 17th appearance in the championship match in the 18-year history of the event. Saturday's victory also avenged the Gator's 4-3 regular season loss to the Commodores (20-5) on March 11th in Nashville.
"I didn't mention (the regular season loss to Vanderbilt), but I didn't have to because our team was well aware of it," UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. "We have a bunch of gritty players, who just fight. They play good defense and high-percentage tennis. With the conditions as windy as it was again today, it was difficult to hit the corners, but we hit balls back and made passing shots. I thought we handled ourselves really well."
Florida's only other loss this season was against Kentucky, which topped the Gators 5-2 on March 13 in Lexington. The Wildcats are making their first-ever appearance in the SEC Tournament final. Florida is the three-time defending champion of the event, which it has won 13 times.
The Gators, ranked No. 8 in the country, got off to a strong start with the solid play of their doubles team. Florida earned a shutout on court No. 2 with Whitney Benik and Alex Liles earning the 8-0 sweep over Amanda Fish and Taka Bertrand in 45 minutes. The No. 3 tandem of Boglarka Berecz and Nina Suvak then provided the clinching point on court No. 3 with an 8-4 win over Annie Menees and Caroline Ferrell two minutes later. The victory was the 50th for the pair of Berecz and Suvak, whose 50-10 record ranks as the fifth all-time in UF history.
"We started off playing spectacular doubles. (UF Associate Head) Coach (Dave) Balogh reviewed our matches against them on March 11th and really laid down a great game plan in doubles and our players executed the plan perfectly," Thornqvist said. "That set the tone and once we started singles we didn't give them anything. Vanderbilt had to earn every point they got."
Tennis Match Results
Florida vs Vanderbilt
Apr 23, 2005 at Tuscaloosa, AL
Florida 4, Vanderbilt 1
Singles competition:
1. Audra Falk (VAN) vs. Jennifer Magley (UF) 6-4, 5-6, unfinished
2. Zerene Reyes (UF) def. Amanda Fish (VAN) 6-1, 6-4
3. Taka Bertrand (VAN) def. Nina Suvak (UF) 6-4, 6-2
4. Whitney Benik (UF) def. Amanda Taylor (VAN) 4-6, 7-5, 2-1, unfinished
5. Alex Liles (UF) def. Annie Menees (VAN) 6-2, 6-3
6. Boglarka Berecz (UF) def. Caroline Ferrell (VAN) 7-6, 6-2
Doubles competition:
1. Audra Falk/Amanda Taylor (VAN) vs. Jennifer Magley/Zerene Reyes (UF) 6-5, unfinished
2. Whitney Benik/Alex Liles (UF) def. Amanda Fish/Taka Bertrand (VAN) 8-0
3. Boglarka Berecz/Nina Suvak (UF) def. Annie Menees/Caroline Ferrell (VAN) 8-4
Match Notes:
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (3,5,2,6)
