The sixth-ranked University of Florida women’s tennis team swept No. 15 Arkansas 7-0 on a cold Friday evening at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in the Southeastern Conference opener for both squads.

The victory, which was the 825^th in the 38-year history of the program, marked the Gators’ impressive home record against SEC foes to 162-1 all-time. The victory also extended Florida’s program-record home win streak 75 and its regular-season home win streak to 86.

After taking the doubles point, Florida (10-2, 1-0 SEC) raced out and won the opening set on all six singles courts en route to the sweep against the Razorbacks (10-3, 0-1 SEC).

“I thought we played well in doubles but not the greatest in singles,” shared UF’s Roland Thornqvist, who collected the 199^th coaching victory in the nine-year Gator tenure and improved to 274-78 in 13 years overall as a head coach. “I thought our minds wandered off a bit here and there and we didn’t have great focus throughout. This was a good win for us. Anytime you can open up SEC play with a win is a positive thing. We need to have better focus throughout our match than we were tonight.”

Friday marked the return of Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) to dual match singles play. The Gator sophomore had been resting an injury since November and showed little signs of rust, as she provided the first singles win of the night, defeating Fernanda Perrotta, 6-2, 6-3 at the No. 6 position. Mather earned her first break in the fourth game for a 3-1 lead, before earning another in the eighth to take the opening set. Mather jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second, but dropped the next two games before settling down to win her debut and give the Gators a 2-0 lead.

“It felt great to be back out there,” Mather said. “To look down the courts and see everyone else playing was a good feeling. I thought my ground strokes were pretty good. I was a little nervous closing out the match, but that will get better with more matches.”

Two minutes after Mather’s singles victory, sophomore newcomer Claire Bartlett (Chattanooga, Tenn.) clocked in Florida’s second win, as she defeated Valentina Starkova, 6-0, 6-2 at the No. 5 position. Starkova held to start the second, but didn’t win another game until Bartlett had already jumped out to a 4-1 lead. The two traded breaks, before Barlett served out for the win.

Senior Marrit Boonstra (Groningen, The Netherlands) provided the clinching dual match victory, as she downed Stephanie Roy, 6-2, 6-2, on court No. 3 and improved to 20-3 all-time in SEC singles dual match action.

Freshman Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) was next off the court, as she defeated 54^th-ranked Anouk Tigu, 6-4, 6-0, on the showcase court. The reigning SEC Freshman of the Week held at love to begin the match and earned a break in the sixth game and held for a 5-2 lead. Tigu then held and earned a break of her own, but Embree dug deep and captured another break for the first set, en route to the straight-set victory.

Senior Anastasia Revzina (Moscow, Russia) followed seven minutes later with a hard-fought 6-4, 7-5 decision over Claudine Paulson at the No. 4 spot. Revzina found herself down 3-1 early but was able to get the set back on-serve with a break in the eighth game and was able to snatch another in the 10^th game to earn the opening frame. Revzina again trailed 3-1 in the second and was able follow the same pattern as the first, only Paulson held in the 10^th game. Revzina held and managed the break in the 12^th to take the straight-set decision.

Freshman Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) cruised past Emily Carbone in the first set on court No. 2, before finding herself in a 2-0 hole to start the second. Will then won five consecutive games to take a 5-2 lead. Carbone held en route to winning three straight games for 5-all, as the two held and forced a tiebreaker, where Will jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back as she won her 30^th singles match of the year while improving to 10-0 in dual match action.

Florida needed just 36 minutes to clinch the opening point of the dual match, winning the doubles point thanks to the quick work on courts No. 1 and No. 2.

The Gator tandem of Lauren Embree and Anastasia Revzina provided the first result of the SEC season, taking down Stephanie Roy and Valentina Starkova, 8-1, and improving to 11-1 this season and 9-0 in dual match play.

Sixth-ranked Marrit Boonstra and Allie Will then defeated Arkansas’ 18^th-ranked team of Claudine Paulson and Anouk Tigu, 8-1, to secure the doubles point. Boonstra actually started the match by losing her serve, but the Gator duo bounced right back, ripping off the final eight games, with Boonstra fittingly serving out for the victory.

Florida returns to action on Sunday, when the team plays host to LSU at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex beginning at 1 p.m. Admission is free to all regular-season matches.

The Lady Tigers defeated the Gators 4-3 in Baton Rouge last year, their lone win in the 35-match series history.

Women’s College Tennis

No. 15 Arkansas at No. 6 Florida

Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex

Gainesville, Fla.

Friday, March 05, 2010

Final Score: Florida 7, Arkansas 0

Singles

No. 1 (15) Lauren Embree (UF) d. (54) Anouk Tigu (ARK), 6-4, 6-0

No. 2 (11) Allie Will (UF) d. Emily Carbone (ARK), 6-0 7-6 (4)

No. 3 (62) Marrit Boonstra (UF) d. Stephanie Roy (ARK), 6-2, 6-2*

No. 4 (105) Anastasia Revzina (UF) d. Claudine Paulson (ARK), 6-4, 7-5

No. 5 Claire Bartlett (UF) d. Valentina Starkova (ARK), 6-0, 6-2

No. 6 Joanna Mather (UF) d. Fernanda Perrotta (ARK), 6-2, 6-3

Doubles

No. 1 (6) Marrit Boonstra/Allie Will (UF) d. (18) Claudine Paulson/Anouk Tigu (ARK), 8-1*

No. 2 (34) Lauren Embree/Anastasia Revzina (UF) d. Stephanie Roy/Valentina Starkova (ARK), 8-1

No. 3 Emily Carbone/Fernanda Perrotta (ARK), d. Claire Bartlett/Caroline Hitimana (UF), UF led 5-3, default

Order of Finish: Doubles-2, 1*, 3; Singles-6, 5, 3*, 1, 4, 2

Records: Florida 10-2, 1-0 SEC; Arkansas 10-3, 0-1 SEC

-UF-