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UF Women’s Tennis Captures SEC Regular Season Title Outright
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The
University of Florida women’s tennis team captured the Southeastern
Conference overall championship outright with a 4-1 victory against
South Carolina at Carolina Tennis Center Saturday afternoon in the
regular season finale for both teams.
The second-ranked Gators
improved to 18-1 overall and a perfect 11-0 in SEC action, extending
their regular-season win streak against league foes to 35 and carry
their 13-match win streak into the SEC Tournament which gets underway
on Thurs., April 19 in Oxford, Miss. Florida earned the No. 1 seed and
a first-round bye in the 12-team event.
Florida actually trailed
early in the match against the Gamecocks (14-7, 5-6 SEC), who took the
doubles point by winning on courts one and three.
The Gators,
however, stormed back and won the first four singles matches to claim
the team victory before the rest of the matches were abandoned once the
dual match outcome had been decided.
The Gators have won the SEC
regular-season title 26 times in the 33 years the league has sponsored
women’s tennis. Florida marched through the regular-season with an
undefeated league record (11-0) for the third consecutive season and
the 21st time in program history. The Gators have won more SEC women’s
tennis crowns than any other women’s team at any school in any sport.
Lauren
Embree and Joanna Mather won their doubles match on court two, 8-5, and
extended their streak to 16 in a row. South Carolina captured the
decision on the other two courts, halting UF’s run on court one where
Sofie Oyen and Allie Will were upset, 8-3, and saw their 14-match run
come to an end. SC claimed the doubles point with a 9-8 (7-2) decision
on court three against Olivia Janowicz and Caroline Hitimana.
On
the singles court, Embree won her 12th straight match with a 6-1, 6-1
victory against Jaklin Alawi and tied the team scoring at 1-all. Mather
followed with a similar score on court three and gave UF a 2-1 lead,
before Alexandra Cercone posted a 6-2, 6-1 victory on court five for a
3-1 advantage. Will provided the clinching dual match win as she
polished off 6-0, 6-3 decision against Anya Morgina on court one and
secure the Gator victory.
No. 2 Florida at No. 27 South Carolina
Carolina Tennis Center * Columbia, S.C.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Final Score: Florida 4, South Carolina 1
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 1, 3)
1. #67 Alawi/Stojic, USC, def. #1 Allie Will/Sofie Oyen, UF, 8-3
2. #16 Lauren Embree/Joanna Mather, UF, def. Kanakova/Morgina, USC, 8-5
3. Andersson/Pereira, USC, def. Olivia Janowicz/Caroline Hitimana, UF, 9-8 (7-2)
Singles (Order of Finish: 2, 3, 5, 1)
1. #1 Allie Will, UF, def. #40 Anya Morgina, USC, 6-0, 6-3
2. #10 Lauren Embree, UF, def. #85 Jaklin Alawi, USC, 6-1, 6-1
3. #21 Joanna Mather, UF, def. Dominika Kanakova, USC, 6-1, 6-1
4. #88 Dijana Stojic, USC, vs. #48 Sofie Oyen, UF, 4-6, 2-3 susp.
5. #73 Alexandra Cercone, UF, def. Adriana Pereira, USC, 6-2, 6-1
6. Josefin Andersson, USC, vs. #123 Caroline Hitimana, UF, 2-6, 1-1 susp.
Records: Florida 18-1, 11-0 SEC; South Carolina 14-7, 5-6 SEC
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