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The women’s tennis team put on a show Friday, as the four members
participating in the Freeman Memorial Championships combined for a
perfect 8-0 record in singles and doubles action.
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The Gators got off to a quick start in doubles play as the freshman
duo of Alex Cercone and Olivia Janowicz took down Stanford’s No. 2
team of Kristie Ahn and Nicole Gibbs (8-5).
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“The two freshmen had a really good win in doubles which set the
tone for the rest of the day,” coach Roland Thornqvist said.
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Joanna Mather and Lauren Embree dominated their doubles match
against Oregon’s No. 59-ranked duo of Paulina Smatova and Patricia
Skowronski, winning 8-1.
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singles action, the Gators continued their impressive play as
Cercone, Janowicz and Mather picked up a pair of wins to advance to
the next round.
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“We looked equally sharp in singles,” Thornqvist said. “We’ve never
had a first day like this here. This is the best opening day we’ve
ever had at this tournament.”
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Despite not practicing together during winter break, Thornqvist
said the team has been hitting the ball extremely well in practice
and actually made strides on their own, which should pay dividends
down the road.
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“They’ve done a great job on getting better over break,” he said.
“We need to play just as well if not better tomorrow.”
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Strong day in SEC:
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The men’s team had a strong showing on the first day of the
Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships in Knoxville, Tenn.,
as the team went undefeated in its four singles matches.
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Freshmen Michael Alford and Andrew Butz each picked up impressive
straight-sets victories, as Alford took down LSU’s Stefan Szacinksi
(6-4, 7-5), and Butz defeated Kentucky’s Maks Gold (7-6, 6-2).
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Billy Federhofer and Nassim Slilam also won their singles
matches.
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doubles action, the Gators went 2-2, as the tournament’s No.
1-seeded duo of Alexandre Lacroix and Nassim Slilam picked up a
solid win against Tennessee’s Jarryd Chaplin and Edward Jones
(8-4).
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Michael Alford and Sekou Bangoura Jr. picked up a first round win
against LSU’s Sebastian Carlsson and Neal Skupski (8-6), but lost
in the next round to Georgia’s Drake Bernstein and Wil Spencer
(8-1).
