No. 5 UWF Claims 10th GSC Title in 5-4 Win Over VSU
2009 Gulf South Conference ChampionsMONTGOMERY, Ala. – The No. 5 West Florida women's tennis team (19-7, 4-1 GSC) defeated No. 4 Valdosta State 5-4 in the Gulf South Conference Tournament championship match on Saturday to claim the team's conference record 10th GSC title. It was the fifth straight meeting between the two teams in the GSC finals, with UWF winning the title in 2006, 2007, and 2009.
With 10 GSC titles, women's tennis now becomes UWF's first program to reach double digits in GSC titles. The Argonauts men's golf team has nine titles and will look to match the women's tennis team with its 10th on Monday and Tuesday at the GSC Championships.
Besides avenging last year’s loss to Valdosta State at the final of the GSC Tournament, the Argonauts avenged two losses earlier in the season. The Argos dropped an 8-1 match at Valdosta on March 15, and dropped a 5-2 match at the Small College Blue-Gray Tournament in Montgomery on April 4.
"I am very excited and pleased with how the girls played. They showed a lot of heart in this match since we were down almost the entire match but the girls hung there and pulled it out," said Head Coach Derrick Racine. "We got some great leadership and victories from our two seniors Suzana Cavalcante and Renata Mattos and it was great to watch freshman Caitlyn Baines step up and perform so well under pressure in the deciding match."
The match was hard-fought, as both teams had the lead at different times. Valdosta State started strong in doubles and captured the first two points. No. 3 Suzana Cavalcante (senior/Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Paulina Ojeda (sophomore/Santiago, Chile) were defeated 8-5 by No. 5 Dominique Rothlaender and Tina Trautmann in the first spot. Renata Mattos (senior/ Sao Paulo, Brazil) and Caitlyn Baines (freshman/Panama City Beach, Fla.) dropped their match to No. 9 Raphaelle Durante and Karine Redon in the second spot. The Argos bounced back with Taylor Brewster (sophomore/Ontario, Canada) and Yana Bokareva (sophomore/Moscow, Russia) beating Kristel de Groot and Natali Gumbrecht 8-6 in the third doubles. The Blazers had a 2-1 lead entering the singles action.
In order to claim the victory the Argonauts needed to win four out of six single matches. In the first singles No. 5 Cavalcante picked up a win as No. 13 Rothlaender had to retire from the match with an injury when the score was 4-0 up for Cavalcante, evening the match at 2-2. The Argonauts earned their third point with Bokareva in the third spot. After earning a point in the match due to a racket violation from No. 26 Durante, Bokareva did not need to play a tiebreak when the score was 6-6 as Durante got another violation, this time with a ball. The Blazers No. 3 player made another racket violation and was defaulted out of the match.
Ojeda dropped a 6-2, 6-1 match to No. 14 Gumbrecht in the second singles, evening the match once again. The Blazers took back the lead when No. 29 Trautmann defeated Brewster in the fourth singles. Now behind 4-3, the Argos needed to win at the fifth and sixth spots in which they were already up a set. Mattos finished her match with a 6-2, 6-3 score over de Groot in the fifth singles. With the scoreboard at 4-4 all the attention went to the decisive court. Baines had won the first set 6-4, had a serve break up in the second and dropped the break. The sixth Argonaut player needed three match points to break again and beat Redon 6-4, 6-4, clinching the match. With the 5-4 win the Argos became the GSC champions, reaching the title for the 10th time in school history.
"It was the most amazing tennis moment in my life," said Baines. "I knew the pressure was all on me and I think I took it ok. I have been dreaming of wining conference since season started, but not even in my wildest dream I would dream of winning like that."
The Argonauts will now look forward to the NCAA Division II South Region Championships. The location of the event will be announced at a future date by the regional committee. For information on all UWF Athletics, visit www.GoArgos.com.
#ARGOS#
Singles
#1 Suzana Cavalcante (UWF) def. Dominique Rothlaender (VSU) 4-0 ret.
#2 Natali Gumbrecht (VSU) def. Paulina Ojeda (UWF) 6-2, 6-1
#3 Yana Bokareva (UWF) def. Raphaelle Durante (VSU) 7-6, default
#4 Tina Trautmann (VSU) def. Taylor Brewster (UWF) 6-0, 6-3
#5 Renata Mattos (UWF) def. Kristel de Groot (VSU) 6-2, 6-3
#6 Caitlyn Baines (UWF) def. Karine Redon (VSU) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles
#1 Rothlaender/Trautmann (VSU) def. Cavalcante/Ojeda (UWF) 8-5
#2 Durante/Karine Redon (VSU) def. Baines/Mattos (UWF) 8-4
#3 Brester/Bokareva (UWF) def. Gumbrecht/de Groot (VSU) 8-6
