The top-ranked University of Florida women’s tennis team earned a patient 6-0 victory against LSU at the W.T. Dub Robinson Stadium on Friday.
In the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams, the start time for the match was moved early with the hopes of avoiding the afternoon rains scheduled to hit the Baton Rouge area.
The teams decided to begin playing singles matches, also as a result of the weather, and Florida (12-1) raced out and received victories from sophomore Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) and freshman Alex Cercone (Seminole, Fla.).
Then the rain began to fall for the first of three delays in the match.
The Gators were leading on the other four singles in the respective second set of each after winning the first when action halted for the first time. Florida eventually was able to complete the sweep on all six singles courts a couple hours later.
“I thought we played very well,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We had a couple of rain delays and we handled them well. I was curious to see how weather delays would effect us. We had two short ones and one lengthy delay and we weren’t thrown off at all and I was happy to see that we continued to play disciplined tennis. We played smart and overall I’m pretty pleased.”
Embree topped Kaitlin Burns, 6-2, 6-3, to log her ninth consecutive singles victory, improving to 11-0 all-time in SEC singles dual matches.
Cercone defeated Keri Frankenberger, 6-1, 6-2, at the No. 4 position and gave Florida at 2-0 lead, as the Gator rookie is now 21-9 in singles matches.
Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) earned a 6-2, 6-4 victory against No. 52 Whitney Wolf, as she moved to 19-2 this season and 67-7 in her singles career, including a 36-1 dual match mark.
Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) defeated Alexus Coats, 6-3, 6-3, at the No. 5 position and provided the clinching dual match win.
Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) then earned a 6-1, 6-3 victory against Ariel Morton at the No. 6 spot, before Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) posted a 7-5, 6-2 victory against Ebie Wilson on court No. 3 to round out the singles results.
The teams began playing doubles matches, but when rain stormed the courts again, all matches were abandoned.
Florida continues its road trip next playing at No. 16 Arkansas on Sunday in Fayetteville.
Women’s College Tennis
No. 1 Florida at LSU
W.T. Dub Robinson Stadium * Baton Rouge, La.
Friday, March 04, 2011
Final Score: Florida 6, LSU 0
Doubles
Began but not completed due to rain
Singles
1. #7 Allie Will, UF d. #52 Whitney Wolf, LSU, 6-2, 6-4
2. #26 Lauren Embree, UF d. Kaitlin Burns, LSU, 6-2, 6-3
3. Sofie Oyen, UF d. Ebie Wilson, LSU, 7-5, 6-3
4. #35 Alex Cercone, UF d. Keri Frankenberger, LSU, 6-1, 6-2
5. #34 Olivia Janowicz, UF d. Alexus Coats, LSU, 6-3, 6-3*
6. #125 Caroline Hitimana, UF d. Ariel Morton, LSU, 6-0, 6-3
Order of Finish: 4, 2, 1, 5*, 6, 3
Updated Records: LSU (2-6); Florida (12-1)
