University
of Florida junior Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) continued her
remarkable singles run as the top-ranked Gators defeated UCF, 7-0, at Linder
Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex on Wednesday.
“These
past few matches I’ve been serving really well which is helping a lot, I’ve
been trying to work on being more aggressive and shortening the points a little
bit,” Embree said after the match.
Embree
posted her second consecutive 6-0, 6-0 singles victory in as many dual matches
for the Gators (2-0), who earned their 23rd straight win dating back to last
year. For Embree, the win also marked her 43rd straight dual match
singles win, as she hasn’t dropped a singles decision in team competition since
Feb. 14, 2010 in the National Team Indoor Championships. Embree is 46-3 in her
dual match singles career.
“She
is moving really well, she’s handling pace well and she has done a lot of hard
work and it seems to really be starting to pay off for her,” head coach Roland
Thornqvist said about Embree’s impressive play.
“I
think now, as opposed to last year at this time, I’m feeling a lot better
because last year I was coming off a wrist injury,” Embree explained. “I’m
playing better and more confident.”
Embree’s
opponent on Wednesday was Genevieve Lorbergs, as the Gator junior gave Florida
a 3-0 lead in the team scoring.
Junior
Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) also posted a double-bagel in her
first dual match singles action of the season, blanking Josephine Haraldson on
court six. Hitimana now has 12 consecutive dual match singles wins.
Allie
Will (Boca
Raton, Fla.) defeated Alexis Rodriguez, 6-4, 6-1, on court two, in the most
tightly contested singles match of the evening. The win marks Will’s seventh
consecutive singles victory.
Alexandra
Cercone (Seminole,
Fla.) defeated Taylor Dubins, 6-1, 6-1, to clinch UF’s second victory of the
young season and, to round out the singles, Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) defeated
Jenna Doefler, 7-5, 6-0.
The
Gators now own a 10-0 record all-time against UCF and 190-33 record over
in-state opponents. The win extended the Gators’ match win streak to 23, which
is seventh-best in program history.
“I
thought we did really well and showed some great athleticism. We made a few
mistakes but overall we did pretty well. We were moving well and that’s a big
key,” Thornqvist stated. “We went for our shots and even if we missed them, we
turned around and played again. We were willing to accept a couple more
mistakes than we are accustomed to making for long-term benefits.”
The
Gators captured the doubles point in 39 minutes, as the team of Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg,
Belgium) and Will closed out their 8-2 win against Genevieve Lorbergs and
Alexis Rodriguez on court one, four minutes after the tandem of Embree and Mather
topped Jenna Doefler and Courtney Griffith, 8-3 in 35 minutes.
“I
thought our doubles were pretty good,” Thornqvist said. “The first 10 to 15
minutes on at least one and two we missed some returns but as soon as we
addressed that and settled down a little bit we started making returns and saw
our leads grow on both courts.”
Hitimana
and Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) completed the doubles sweep with
their 8-4 win against Taylor Dubins and Andrea Yacaman at the number three
position.
The
match on court two was on-serve through the first seven games until the Gators
earned the first break of the match for a 5-3 lead. Mather then held and
Florida continued the momentum by winning the remaining games for the first
victory of the day. The win marked the 32nd consecutive dual match
doubles victory for Embree, who has not dropped a doubles match in team
competition since her freshman year when she paired with Mather and fell 9-7 to
Ole Miss’ Vogel and Rangel on May 20, 2010 in the NCAA Round of 16.
On
court one, Oyen and Will began with a break a love and Will cruised in her
service game and gave UF a 2-0 lead. The next four games were holds, with Will
serving a love game as part of a 15-point run by the Gators, who emerged with a
7-2 lead. Will held one last time as she served out for the win, as she posted
her 14th straight dual match doubles victory.
The
Gators next make their first road trip of the 2012 dual match season, traveling
to Waco, Texas, to play fifth-ranked Baylor on Saturday. The match begins a
monster stretch for Florida, which then returns home to host South Florida on
Feb. 7 before traveling to play Pepperdine and second-ranked Stanford in
Stanford, Calif., on Feb. 10 and 12, respectively. The Gators then entertain
eighth-ranked North Carolina on Feb. 26 and 18th ranked Florida State on Feb.
29.
