The South Carolina State women's tennis team suffered yet another first round defeat, 4-0 to the second-seeded Florida Lady Gators in the 2012 NCAA Women's Tennis Championships held at Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex on Friday.

The Gators (22-1), who improved to 14-0 all-time in NCAA Round of 64 matches, set the tone from the start of doubles play where Florida won 24 of the 25 games played, posting scores of 8-1, 8-0 and 8-0 to earn the doubles point in the match.

South Carolina State (19-1), which has lost to Florida 4-0 in the NCAA first round each of the last three years, came out stronger on the singles courts, but the Gators proved to be too much, as senior Joanna Mather won  a 6-0, 6-0 decision against Victoria Khatcei on court three.

Junior Caroline Hitimana gave Florida a 3-0 lead after she tallied her third double-bagel win of the season and captured her team-leading 17th straight singles victory. Sofie Oyen polished off the opening round win with a 6-1, 6-0 victory against Laura Bosneag on court four,  to clinch the team victory.

Despite, the loss South Carolina State finishes with one of the best records in the country at 19-1 and junior Maria Craciun will have a chance to compete in the 2012 NCAA Division I Women's Singles Championship May 23-28 at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Ga., following the conclusion of the team championship (May 17-22).

For the complete story, visit www.scsuathletics.com