College of Charleston
Florida
No. 2 Florida Tops Cougars In ITA First Round, 6-0
1/29/2011 11:54:00 PM | Women's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The College of Charleston women's tennis team held its own in a 6-0 loss to second-ranked and 2010 NCAA runner-up Florida in the first round of the ITA Kick-Off Weekend held Saturday afternoon at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
The Cougars (0-1), who were ranked No. 69 in the first edition of the Campbell/ITA College Tennis Team Rankings on Jan. 25, dueled it out with the Gators (2-0) in the one hour, 20-minute match.
The CofC doubles tandem of senior Emma Hayman (Wanganui, New Zealand) and sophomore Irene Viana (Paris, France) held serve with the top-ranked Florida duo of Sofie Oyen and Allie Will up until 3-all and had a chance to go up 4-3, before the doubles point was decided at the No. 3 line. It was Viana's first start at No. 1 doubles.
Sophomore Christin Newman (Greensboro, N.C.), a transfer and regionally-ranked player from Virginia Tech, had a tough task at hand against No. 7-ranked Allie Will at the top of the singles order. But, every game went to deuce in a 6-0, 6-0 decision at the No. 1 line. Will was one of five nationally-ranked players in the Florida lineup including Sofie Oyen, who clinched the match with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over senior Kinsey Casey (Alpharetta, Ga.) at No. 3 singles.
“The final scores aren't reflective of the matches,” said Director of Tennis Angelo Anastopoulo, who is in his 20th season with the two-time defending Southern Conference champion Cougars. “We had some close games. They were just tougher in finishing off points and that's why they are ranked No. 2 in the country. I was proud of our performance today. We fought and competed hard. We would be up early in the point, but they just play at a higher level longer in the point and we aren't used to that pace.”
CofC will face William & Mary (1-2) tomorrow in the consolation match scheduled for 10 a.m. (ET).
“We learned a lot from this match and what we need to do to get better,” Anastopoulo said. “It's a great motivational tool to play teams at this level. We will have a tough match tomorrow against William & Mary and we will see how well we can respond and recover from the loss today. It's really how you show up on the second day and this has challenged our players to raise their game higher.”
The ITA Kick-Off Weekend is college tennis' premier season-opening event which features 15 men's and 15 women's teams serving as host sites with four teams at each site vying to advance to the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship hosted by the University of Virginia on Feb. 18-21 at the Boar's Head Sports Club in Charlottesville, Va.
(2) FLORIDA 6, (69) COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON 0
ITA KICK-OFF WEEKEND
Jan. 29, 2011
Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex
at Gainesville, Fla.
SINGLES
No. 1 – (7) Allie Will (Florida) def. Christin Newman (CofC), 6-0, 6-0.
No. 2 – Lauren Embree (Florida) def. Emma Hayman (CofC), 6-2, 6-2.
No. 3 – (96) Sofie Oyen (Florida) def. Kinsey Casey (CofC), 6-1, 6-3.
No. 4 – (30) Joanna Mather (Florida) vs. Caroline Newman (CofC), 7-5, 2-1, DNF.
No. 5 – (28) Alex Cercone (Florida) def. Kelly Kambourelis (CofC), 6-0, 6-2.
No. 6 – (22) Caroline Hitimana (Florida) def. Irene Viana (CofC), 6-1, 6-0.
DOUBLES
No. 1 – (1) Oyen-Will (Florida) vs. Hayman-Viana (CofC), 5-3, DNF.
No. 2 – Embree-Mather (Florida) def. Christin Newman-Kambourelis (CofC), 8-1.
No. 3 – Cercone-Hitimana (Florida) def. Katie Lee-Caroline Newman (CofC), 8-0.
ORDER OF FINISH
Doubles: 2, 3*
Singles: 5, 6, 3*, 2, 1
Players Mentioned
