Gainesville, Fla. ? The University of South Florida women's tennis team's season came to an end Saturday afternoon when the No. 4 seed Florida Gators defeated the Bulls, 4-0, in the second round of the NCAA Championships, in Gainesville, Fla.
“I'm proud of my team. It's a pity that due to the region we have to play a team like Florida, who I thought should have been higher ranked,” said head coach Agustin Moreno. “I thought we competed well. There were a couple of big points in the doubles match that could have gone either way and maybe we could have pulled the upset.”
The Bulls couldn't garner any momentum against Florida after their first round victory against the University of Maryland.
Florida won doubles matches at the No. 1 and 2 spots to take the 1-0 advantage going into singles competition.
The clinching match came when UF's Whitney Benik and Alexis Gordon downed USF's No. 1 doubles team of Neyssa Etienne and Gabriela Duch, 8-5.
The Gators didn't let up on the Bulls in singles competition, taking matches at the No. 4, 5 and 6 positions, to clinch the match and earn a birth to the Sweet 16 in Palo Alto, Calif.
“I believe we competed well and to tell you the truth I don't think Florida is a No. 4 seed, said Moreno. “I think they have a better chance of beating Stanford than anyone else, because they (Florida) have won NCAA championships and are really competitive positions one through six.”
USF finished the season with a 17-6 record.
Three Bulls will be making the trip to Palo Alto, Claif. to participate in the singles and doubles championships.
Sophomore Courtney Vernon was selected as an alternate for the singles championships and the doubles team of Etienne and Duch were an at-large selection in the doubles championships.
The 64-player singles and 32-team doubles competitions will be conducted May 23-28 at the Taube (pronounced TOE-be) Tennis Center in Stanford, California, following the conclusion of the team championship (May 18-22). Stanford University serves as host.
NCAA Women's Tennis Second Round
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
Gainesville, Fla.
Friday, May 13, 2006
Final Score: South Florida 0, Florida 4
Doubles
1. No. 24 Benik/Gordon (UF) def. No. 9 Etienne/Duch (USF) 8-5
2. Frangulyan/Srebrovic (UF) def. Cruz/Rai (USF) 8-1
3. Obando/Vernon (USF) vs. Robison/Suvak (UF) UF led, 7-5
Singles
1. No. 70 Neyssa Etienne (USF) vs. No. 14 Alexis Gordon (UF) UF led, 6-0, 4-5
2. No. 60 Courtney Vernon (USF) vs. No. 9 Diana Srebrovic (UF) UF led 6-2, 2-3
3. No. 90 Liz Cruz (USF) vs. Whitney Benik (UF) UF led, 6-3, 2-5
4. No. 50 Boglarka Berecz (UF) def. Gabriela Duch (USF) 6-2, 6-0
5. Nina Suvak (UF) def. Iciri Rai (USF) 6-1, 6-1
6. Alex Liles (UF) def. Luisa Obando (USF) 6-0, 6-0
