Three UF women's tennis players advanced to the second round at the All-American Championships in Pacific Palisades, Calif., on Thursday.
Csilla Borsanyi, Megan Alexander and Diana Srebrovic won impressive first-round matches against some of the nation?s toughest players.
Borsanyi handled North Carolina?s Sanaz Marand 7-5, 6-0, while Alexander defeated Southern Cal?s Sarah Fansler 6-4, 6-3.
Srebrovic, UF?s highest-ranked player at No. 12, fought hard to earn a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Furman?s Laura Goia.
UF coach Roland Thornqvist said he knows Srebrovic can take her game to the next level at this tournament, as she has done in the past.
BShe certainly has a big enough game to beat anybody,C Thornqvist said. BIf she catches on fire, she certainly can do very, very well, if not win it.C
UF?s No. 7 doubles tandem of Borsanyi and Srebrovic also competed in the main draw but dropped their first-round match to Tennessee?s Caitlin Whoriskey and Stephanie Wetmore 8-6.
Despite the loss, Thornqvist said that simply playing in the tournament will do a lot for his team in seeing where the women stack up against the nation?s best and improving their own play.
BA tournament like this, the All-American Tournament, certainly should be motivational factor,C he said. BYou play against the 64 best players in America, with a third of the field or a quarter of the field qualifying in. So in reality, it?s almost a tougher tournament than the NCAA Tournament.C
With that said, Thornqvist recognizes the challenge his players face.
BIf you?re not on top of your game here, you?re going to get whooped pretty fast,C he said.
On the men?s side, senior Greg Ouellette posted two straight-set victories at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., on Thursday.
No. 10 Ouellette, the only men?s player who qualified for the main singles draw, made his first appearance this fall a memorable one, defeating Boise State?s 38th-ranked Clancy Shields 6-4, 6-4.
Ouellette continued his exceptional play against Texas Tech?s Bojan Szumanski, winning handily 6-3, 6-1.
The Gators also fielded a No. 8 doubles team in the main draw.
Freshman Tyler Hochwalt teamed up with Ouellette but fell short to Tulsa?s Andy Connelly and Ross Cunningham in a tight 9-8 (3) match.
Ouellette will face San Diego?s 60th-ranked Thomas Liversage on Friday in the round of 16.
