May 16, 2002
STANFORD, Calif. - The 15th-ranked Northwestern women's tennis team fell short of its bid to upset No. 1 Florida on Thursday, at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium in Stanford, Calif. The 'Cats (23-6) fell 4-1 to the Gators in a match that lasted almost four hours.
Northwestern got off to a slow start, dropping the doubles point with losses at Nos. 1 and 3. In singles, the Gators took control early, winning the first set on five of the six courts. Ranked No. 1 in the nation, Florida's Jessica Lehnhoff rolled to a 6-1, 6-1 win over No. 33 Marine Piriou at No. 1 to give the Gators a 2-0 advantage.
Florida took a 3-0 lead as Julia Scaringe defeated Ruth Barnes (6-2, 6-2) at No. 6. Down three, the 'Cats rallied as senior Simona Petrutiu coasted by Florida's Alexis Gordon, 6-0, 6-3. In the remaining matches, Northwestern's momentum kicked in and Lia Jackson, Jessica Rush and Andrea Yung battled back from a set down to force a third.
The rally came too late, as Northwestern was unable to overcome Florida. No. 18 Lindsay Dawaf defeated Jackson at No. 2 in the deciding set 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 to clinch the match for the Gators. The matches at No. 3 and No. 5 were abandoned.
(1) Florida vs. (16) Northwestern
Florida 4, Northwestern 1
SINGLES
No. 1 #1 Jessica Lehnhoff (UF) def. #33 Marine Piriou (NU), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 #18 Lindsay Dawaf (UF) def. Lia Jackson (NU), 6-1, 7-5, 6-3
No. 3 #77 Jessica Rush (NU) vs. #53 Zerene Reyes (UF), 2-6, 6-4, 0-4, Abandoned
No. 4 Simona Petrutiu (NU) def. #118 Alexis Gordon (UF), 6-0, 6-3
No. 5 Andrea Yung (NU) vs. Annika Bengtsson (UF), 2-6, 6-2, 4-3, Abandoned
No. 6 Julia Scaringe (UF) def. Ruth Barnes (NU), 6-2, 6-2
DOUBLES
No. 1 #3 Dawaf/Lehnhoff (UF) def. #28 Jackson/Petrutiu (NU), 8-5
No. 2 #32 Piriou/Rush (NU) vs. Gordon/Scaringe (UF), 7-7 Abandoned
No. 3 Bengtsson/Reyes (UF) def. Barnes/Yung (NU), 8-5
Team Results (seed)
(1) Florida 4, (16) Northwestern 1
(8) Wake Forest 4, (9) Texas 2
(13) Tennessee 4, (4) Vanderbilt 2
Virginia Commonwealth 4, (5) Duke 3
(6) North Carolina 4, (11) Arizona State 1
(3) Stanford 5, (14) Kentucky 1
(7) UCLA 4, (10) Southern California 0
(2) Georgia 4, California 1