No. 2 Florida Women’s Tennis Sweeps No. 13 Alabama for First Place in SEC
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The
second-ranked University of Florida blanked Alabama, 7-0, on Sunday and
became the lone remaining undefeated team remaining in Southeastern
Conference action with three conference matches left on the 2011-12
regular-season schedule.
The Gators (15-1, 8-0) handed the
SEC Western Division leading Crimson Tide (13-3, 7-1) its first league
loss of the season and halted Alabama’s eight-match winning streak
while earning their 10th consecutive dual match victory, including
their 33rd straight in SEC regular-season action.
“I thought we
played great. It was beautiful, it was a great crowd, it was a
tremendous college tennis atmosphere,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist
said. “We were very disciplined. I was proud to see that we competed
like champions. Our body language looked professional. We played a
hard-hitting Alabama team and I was just really pleased to see that we
were able to neutralize some of their aggression and play great
defense. Overall, I am very, very pleased with the weekend and that we
are continuing to get better.”
Florida captured the win on all
three singles courts, with the Gator teams of Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg,
Belgium) and Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Lauren Embree (Marco
Island, Fla.) and Joanna Mather (Duluth Ga.) both winning their 13th
consecutive matches, respectively. The victories marked the 80th
individual doubles win for Embree, as well as the 98th for Mather, the
50th for Oyen and the 82nd for Will. Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo,
Belgium) and Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) posted the third doubles
win to complete the sweep.
Mather, who was the first to net a
win on the singles court with a 6-3, 6-3 decision against Courtney
McLane, earned her 95th career singles victory.
Will then
followed with a 6-2, 6-2 win against No. 23 Mary Anne Macfarlane and
Oyen provided the clinching dual match victory with a 6-2, 7-5 win
versus Alex Clay. Alexandra Cercone (Seminole, Fla.) continued the
winning with a 7-5, 6-2 final, before Embree collected her 10th
straight singles win, a 7-5, 6-3 mark against No. 56 Alexa Guarachi,
and Janowicz polished off the sweep with a three-set victory on court
six.
Florida next returns to Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis
Complex and plays host to Arkansas on Friday at 5 p.m. and to LSU on
Sunday at 1 p.m. in its final regular-season home matches
No. 2 Florida at No. 13 Alabama Alabama Tennis Stadium * Tuscaloosa, Ala. Sunday, April 01, 2012
Final Score: Florida 7, Alabama 0
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2,1,3) 1. No. 1 Sofie Oyen/Allie Will def. No. 19 Guarachi/McLane (UA) 8-5* 2. No. 13 Lauren Embree/Joanna Mather def. No. 47 Foehse/Macfarlane (UA) 8-2 3. Caroline Hitimana/Olivia Janowicz def. Lindsey/Ebada (UA) 8-5
Singles (Order of Finish: 3,1,4*,5,2,6) 1. No. 1 Allie Will (UF) def. No. 23 Mary Anne Macfarlane (UA) 6-2, 6-2 2. No. 11 Lauren Embree (UF) def. No. 56 Alexa Guarachi (UA) 7-5, 6-3 3. No. 19 Joanna Mather (UF) def. Courtney McLane (UA) 6-3, 6-3 4. No. 42 Sofie Oyen (UF) def. Alex Clay (UA) 6-2, 7-5* 5. No. 64 Alexandra Cercone (UF) def. Antonia Foehse (UA) 7-5, 6-2 6. Olivia Janowicz (UF) def. Taylor Lindsey (UA) 6-2, 2-6, 6-4
Records: Florida 15-1, 8-0 SEC; Alabama 13-3, 7-1 SEC
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