The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Women's Tennis advances to NCAA Championship match with 4-3 win over No. 2 Florida
05.21.2005 | Women's Tennis
ATHENS, Ga. -- The 10th-ranked University of Texas women's tennis team upset No. 2 Florida, 4-3, in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships on Saturday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex on the University of Georgia campus. The Longhorns won an important doubles point and junior Kendra Strohm (Tucson, Ariz.) clinched the win for the Horns with a 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-2 victory at No. 3 singles. The Longhorns improved to 25-5, while the Gators ended their season at 22-3.
Texas will face Stanford (26-0) in the NCAA Championship finals on Sunday, May 22 at Noon (Central). The Longhorns will be making their fourth appearance in the NCAA finals (previously in 1992, 1993 and 1995). UT is 3-2 against Stanford in NCAA tournament play, and these two teams met in the 1993 championship final, with the Longhorns posting a 5-2 victory over the Cardinal to win the program's first national title. As the No. 11 seed in the NCAA tournament, Texas becomes the first double digit seed to reach the finals since the NCAA field expanded to 64 teams in 1999.
"Winning the doubles point was huge," Texas head coach Jeff Moore said. "Florida is a very refined team and they play at a high level in singles, so we knew that it would be difficult to win four singles - not impossible, but difficult. The doubles point was important and it was the best doubles we have played all year.
"And Kendra (Strohm) gave an amazing effort today," Moore added. "She loves the crowd and really enjoys having all the attention on her court. The higher the stakes, the better she plays, so this was the perfect situation for her."
The match opened with doubles play and Florida's ninth-ranked duo of Jennifer Magley and Zerene Reyes were first off the courts at No. 1 with their 8-3 win over Texas' 28th-ranked tandem of Strohm and junior Katie Ruckert (Vienna. Va.). UT evened doubles at one match apiece with a victory on court three where junior Kelly Baritot (Allison Park, Pa.) and freshman Courtney Zauft (San Antonio, Texas) recorded an identical 8-3 score over Lolita Frangulyan and Nina Suvak, setting up the showdown on court two. Sophomore Petra Dizdar (Split, Croatia) and junior Mia Marovic (Split, Croatia) traded games with the Gators' Whitney Benik and Alex Liles until the match was tied at 7-7. The Longhorn pair then buckled down and won the next two games, clinching the doubles point for Texas with the 9-7 score.
In singles, Florida come out strong and collected the first three matches in straight sets. Zauft fell to Liles 6-4, 6-2 at the fifth spot before Ruckert dropped a 6-2, 6-4 decision to Benik at the fourth position. The Gators then took a 3-1 advantage after Marovic, ranked 92nd nationally, lost to 13th-ranked Reyes 6-4, 6-4 at No. 2.
Scoring the first singles point for the Longhorns was 54th-ranked Dizdar who upset her second consecutive top-five opponent in tournament play, this time defeating fifth-ranked Magley 7-6 (8), 6-3 at the top of the lineup.
Sophomore Ristine Olson (Missoula, Mont.) added to the Longhorn comeback with a three-set win over Boglarka Berecz at No. 6 singles. Olson split the first two sets with her opponent sending the match to a third set where she gave up a mere two games en route to the 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.
The final point of the match was decided on court three. Strohm, ranked 84th nationally, took the first set over Suvak, 7-6 (6), before dropping the second, 6-2. The junior then dominated the third set and found herself up 5-2 before she hit a short ball winner on the final point, clinching the victory for Texas.
"I had the energy and the confidence in the third set to just take over the match," Strohm said. "I was able to see all the results on the scoreboard when I realized that the match was coming down to me, I was already up 5-2 in the third. I then decided that I just had to overpower (Suvak) and things ultimately went my way."
*Programming Note: will provide tape delay programming of the team championship round on May 25 at 2 p.m. (Central). The Tennis Channel will air tape delay coverage of the singles and doubles finals on June 4 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. (Central).
#10 Texas 4, #2 Florida 3
Singles (Order of finish: 5, 4, 2, 1, 6, 3)
1. Petra Dizdar (UT) def. Jennifer Magley (UF) 7-6, 6-3
2. Zerene Reyes (UF) def. Mia Marovic (UT) 6-4, 6-4
3. Kendra Strohm (UT) def. Nina Suvak (UF) 7-6, 2-6, 6-2
4. Whitney Benik (UF) def. Katie Ruckert (UT) 6-2, 6-4
5. Alex Liles (UF) def. Courtney Zauft (UT) 6-4, 6-2
6. Ristine Olson (UT) def. Boglarka Bercez (UF) 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
Doubles (Order of finish: 1, 3, 2)
1. Jennifer Magley/Zerene Reyes (UF) def. Katie Ruckert/Kendra Strohm 8-3
2. Petra Dizdar/Mia Marovic (UT) def. Whitney Benik/Alex Liles (UF) 9-7
3. Kelly Baritot/Courtney Zauft (UT) def. Lolita Frangulyan/Nina Suvak (UF) 8-3
