NCAA Division I Tennis Championships

Women’s Round of 16

May 15, 2009

George P. Mitchell Tennis Center

College Station, Texas

 

#2 Georgia 4, #15 Florida 2

RECORDS: Georgia 26-2; Florida 16-10

 

SINGLES

1. #9 Chelsey Gullickson (UGA) def. #8 Marrit Boonstra (UF), 6-3, 2-6, 6-3

2. #55 Yvette Hyndman (UGA) vs. #40 Anastasia Revzina (UF), DNF

3. Joanna Mather (UF) def. #56 Nadja Gilchrist (UGA), 4-6, 6-2, 6-2

4. Jessica Alexander (UF) def. #93 Monika Dancevic (UGA), 6-4, 6-1

5. Naoko Ueshima (UGA) def. Barbara Pinterova (UF), 6-3, 7-6 (2)

6. Cameron Ellis (UGA) def. Lauren Wolken (UF), 6-0, 6-0

 

DOUBLES

1. #6 Gullickson/Gilchrist (UGA) def. #18 Boonstra/Mather (UF), 8-3    

2. Dancevic/Hyndman (UGA) vs. #25 Alexander/Revzina (UF), 4-5, DNF

3. Ellis/Ueshima (UGA) def. Allen/Wolken (UF), 8-1

 

ORDER OF FINISH:

Doubles: 3, 1

Singles: 6, 4, 1, 3, 5

 

POSTMATCH NOTES

Georgia will take on its second consecutive SEC opponent in South Carolina in the quarterfinals on Sunday, May 17 at 1 p.m. (CT). The Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time since 2007.

 

POSTMATCH QUOTES

Georgia Head Coach Jeff Wallace

“It was the third time this year that we’ve played Florida and it was the first time that we won the doubles point. The first time around, they captured a three singles and we lost a close 4-3 match. Since that match, this team has rededicated itself and did a great job of winning the SEC regular season, the SEC Tournament and earning a two seed in the NCAA Tournament. We had a chance to play them again in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. They were able to beat us in the doubles point, but we were able to get four of the singles. We were sort of playing the rubber match here and I was really proud of our team to come out and get that doubles point. It was a good effort. When Georgia and Florida play, it’s always a dog fight. They came out and played great in the singles. It was hard-fought tennis played until the end.”

 

Georgia Junior Naoko Ueshima

“Obviously, I’ve played her (Florida’s Barbara Pinterova) three times in a row and I beat her twice before. I knew what it took to beat her, but I didn’t play that well in the second set. Jeff (Coach Wallace) told me to be confident in myself and to believe in my shot. I started to get more consistent with how I played in the match. It came down to who wanted it the most, so I guess I wanted it more.”

 

Florida Head Coach Roland Thornqvist

“We knew we were playing a team that was picked to be a favorite for the national championship. We were probably underdogs in most of the spots. We all felt that we had a chance. We did not play well in doubles and that was the first time in a while that we didn’t. A lot of credit goes to Georgia, because they hit the ball hard and deep, and kept us from doing some things that we like to do in doubles on offense. I felt that we got off to a little bit of a slow start in singles, because of losing the doubles point and Georgia certainly took advantage of that. When we play them, we certainly have to be sharp at everything we do. If we’re not, then you are going to get down real quick. All the credit to our players, because they fought back and gave us a chance. There was a chance there after an hour and a half where I thought that we were pulling close to even with them. But, in the end, they proved to have too much force. They certainly have a very good team this year. I felt that we did what we could and fought as hard as we could, but they were certainly the better team today.”