Women's Tennis preview: Florida
AUSTIN, Texas -- No. 3 Texas will engage in a rematch of one of the most dramatic contests of the 2005 NCAA Championships Saturday when it takes on second-ranked Florida in Gainesville, Fla. First serve is set for 12 p.m. CST at Florida's Ring Tennis Complex. Inclement weather canceled a scheduled match between the two teams last season in Austin, but Texas and Florida would later meet in the semifinals of the 2005 NCAA Championships. After upsetting Georgia Tech and Kentucky on their way to the national semifinals, the Longhorns went a step further and topped Florida by a 4-3 margin to earn a spot opposite Stanford in the National Championship match. Coming off of a 7-0 win over Florida State on Friday, Feb. 15, the Gators enter Saturday's match at 5-0. Florida features one of the most potent lineups in collegiate tennis with five student-athletes featured in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) singles rankings. Top-ranked sophomore Diana Srebrovic joined the Gators last fall after transferring from Virginia. Joining Srebrovic in the ITA rankings are No. 16 Boglarka Berecz; No. 52 Whitney Benik; No. 63 Nina Suvak and No. 91 Lolita Frangulyan.Senior Alexis Gordon, ranked No. 1 two seasons ago, also has returned to the Gators' lineup after sitting out last season. Texas has won five of its last six matches after starting the season 0-2. After dropping to No. 15 nationally, the Longhorns returned to their preseason No. 3 ranking last week after defeating Georgia Tech, Miami (Fla.) and Duke at the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships. UT fell to Stanford in the final before sweeping Nebraska and Colorado to open conference play last weekend. Texas features 55th-ranked senior Kendra Strohm (Tucson, Ariz.), who teams with senior Mia Marovic (Split, Croatia) for a No. 31 doubles ranking.
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