Saturday, February 1, 2003

FIU women drop spring opener to No. 2 Florida

he second-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team remained undefeated by sweeping Florida International, 7-0, Saturday afternoon in Gainesville. The Gators (3-0) have shutout each of their first three opponents for the first time since 1990.

In No. 1 singles, UF's Alexis Gordon set the pace with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Mei Ly. After each opened the match holding serve, Gordon won the next five games to take the first set. But in the second set, Gordon found herself serving down 4-1 before staging a comeback. In the eighth game she fought off multiple brake-points and evened the second set at 4-all. Gordon then won eight of the next nine points to serve out the victory.

Julia Scaringe was the first Gator to post a singles win, with a 6-0, 6-3 vicotry over Davina Duronio at the No. 3 spot. Scaringe, the lone senior on the team, held off one break point in the final game before serving out the match to give Florida a 2-0 lead in the team scoring.

In doubles, Magley and Reyes got UF rolling quickly, as the No. 3 tandem jumped out to a 5-0 lead en route to the 8-1 victory over Courtney Jonson and Christine Suard. Gordon and Scaringe also raced out to a 5-0 lead at No. 2 and provided the clinching team doubles point with an 8-2 win over Duronio and Desanka Jovanovic.

The Golden Panthers travel to Orlando Sunday morning for a match against UCF.

Final Score: Florida 7, Florida International 0
Gainesville, Fla.

Doubles
No. 1 Lindsay Dawaf/Julie Rotondi (12), UF d. Bruna Discordia/Mei Ly, FIU 8-4
No. 2 Alexis Gordon/Julia Scaringe (7), UF d. Davina Duronio/Desanka Jovanovic, FIU 8-2*
No. 3 Jennifer Magley/Zerene Reyes, UF d. Courtney Jonson/Christine Suard, FIU 8-1

Singles
No. 1 Alexis Gordon (9), UF d. Mei Ly, FIU 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 Lindsay Dawaf (7), UF d. Bruna Discordia, FIU 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 Julia Scaringe (24), UF d. Davina Duronio, FIU 6-0, 6-3
No. 4 Zerene Reyes (26), UF d. Desanka Jovanovic, FIU 6-1, 6-1
No. 5 Jennifer Magley (83), UF d. Christine Suard, FIU 6-0, 6-1*
No. 6 Boglarka Berecz, UF d. Courtney Jonson, FIU 6-3, 6-2

*clinched doubles point/dual match