Florida Gators
Hooters Match Play Rd. 3
Lady Gators Advance to Round Four of Hooters Match Play
Saturday, November 12, 2005 | Women's Golf
After finishing the second round with a 5-0 victory over 14th-seeded Furman, the 11th-seeded Lady Gator golf team notched its second victory of the day with a 3-2-0 upset over 7th-seeded Tennessee in the third round of the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship Saturday afternoon. The Florida women will move on to face 12th-seeded Tulane in the final round of the consolation bracket Sunday morning.
In the second-round match-up against Furman, redshirt freshman Ornella Jouven (La Ciotat, France) defeated Furman's Haley Gildea, 6 and 5, while freshman Mallory Blackwelder (Versailles, Ky) notched a win over Monique Gesualdi, 3 and 2 and sophomore Whitney Myers (East Berlin, Pa.) downed Kathleen Ekey by a 3 and 2 margin as well. Sophomores Sandra Gal (Leichlingen, Germany) and Tiffany Chudy (Miramar) each claimed 2 and 1 victories in their respective matches, with wins over Furman's Blair Lamb and Theresa Paik.
The No. 24 ranked Lady Gators sent the No. 14 ranked Lady Vols home with a 3-2-0 upset win in third round play. Head coach Jill Briles-Hinton was excited about the team's win over Tennessee, especially after a slightly shaky start by the Florida women in the third round.
“We got off to a rough start against Tennessee,” said Briles-Hinton. “In most of the matches we were either even or down early on. Halfway through the girls brought it back together. I was pleased to see us fight back and win, especially against a team ranked higher than we are right now.”
The Lady Gators finished off Tennessee with wins from Myers, Blackwelder and Gal. Myers defeated Violeta Retamoza 5 and 4, while Blackwelder downed Holly Cantwell 3 and 2, and Gal notched a 3 and 2 victory over Jennifer Davis.
With the round three win over Tennessee, the Orange and Blue move on to the final round of the consolation bracket where they will face Tulane. Briles-Hinton expects the Lady Gator squad to be ready to play in the fourth round, just as they were in the third.
“Overall we really played solid today,” said Briles-Hinton. “We came out this morning to finish the match against Furman, and the girls took care of business and got it done quickly. They had time to rest between the Furman and Tennessee matches, and didn't lose any momentum during the down time. They came out ready to play, and that's what I expect to see happen again tomorrow against Tulane.”
Round four action is slated to begin at the Mission Inn Resort at 8:30 a.m. Up to the minute tournament results are available via live scoring at www.golfstatresults.com, and a round recap as well as Florida results will be posted at www.gatorzone.com following the conclusion of play.
-UF-
