Sophomores Caroline Hitimana and Brittany Borsanyi each won their singles draws titles Sunday, putting the final touches on the Gators' impressive performance at the Southeastern Conference Coaches Fall Classic.
Hitimana's and Borsanyi's performances were the culmination of the three-day tournament in Auburn, Ala., where the Gators earned victories in six of seven matches on the first day.
Alexandra Cercone, Claire Bartlett, Olivia Janowicz and Borsanyi earned victories in their singles matches while the teams of Cercone and Hitimana, and Bartlett and Janowicz each won in doubles competition on Friday.
In the second day of action, Bartlett, Hitimana, Janowicz and Borsanyi had strong performances, earning victories in singles competition to set themselves up to play in title matches on Sunday.
However, the biggest story of Saturday’s action was the play of junior Joanna Mather, who won a Flight 1A first-round consolation match against Ole Miss' Kristi Boxx, the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s No. 20 singles competitor.
In doubles action, the team of Bartlett and Janowicz won 8-5 against Kentucky’s Megan Broderick and Jessica Stiles.
The team of Cercone and Hitimana squared off against Boxx and Abby Guthrie of Ole Miss in the semifinals but lost 9-7.
On the tournament’s final day, Hitimana defeated Georgia freshman Alina Jerjomina, 6-1, 7-6 (4) in the Flight 3A Final.
Borsanyi also showed well, emerging victorious over Mississippi State senior Elizabeth Hall, 6-1, 6-1, in the Flight 5B Final.
Both Bartlett and Janowicz played tough in their singles draws but were unable to secure victories, falling to freshmen Brynn Boren (Tennessee) and Alex Leatu (Vanderbilt), respectively. Unfortunately for the duo, it also lost in an exciting Flight 2 doubles final 9-8 (9-7) to Vanderbilt’s Erica Robertson and Chelsea Preeg.
The team displayed solid effort and was able to gain plenty of experience, which should pay off when the Gators head to Pacific Palisades, Calif., in October for the Riviera ITA All-American Championships.
