The
No. 2-ranked University of Florida women’s tennis team earned a hard-fought 7-0
sweep against Auburn on Friday afternoon at the Yarbrough Tennis Center.
“This
was a greatly improved Auburn team and they gave us a real battle,” UF head
coach Roland Thornqvist said. “It was a four hour and 15 minute, 7-0
sweep. I’ve never been involved with a match like that before today. I thought
we played well and were resilient. Overall, I thought it was a really good
tennis match and performance.”
The
Gators next travel to Tuscaloosa, where the team faces Southeastern Conference
Western Division Leader and 13th-ranked Alabama (13-2, 7-0 SEC) on Sunday
beginning at 2 p.m. ET. The Gators (14-1, 7-0 SEC) and Crimson Tide are the
only two remaining undefeated teams in conference play.
Florida
halted Auburn’s run of having won the doubles point in its last three matches,
as well as in five of its last six entering Friday’s match against the Gators,
who jumped out on court No. 1 where the 13th-ranked pair of Lauren Embree
(Marco Island, Fla.) and Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) earned an 8-2 win
in the first decision of the afternoon.
The
Gator tandem of juniors Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) and Allie
Will (Boca Raton, Fla.), playing together for the first time ever, captured
the decisive doubles victory with an 8-2 win against the 36th-ranked pair of Jen
Pfeifler and Paulina Schippers.
Florida
then secured the sweep of all three doubles matches when Alexandra Cercone
(Seminole, Fla.) and Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) defeated Plamena
Kurteva and Taylor Schreimann, 9-8 (7-3).
In
singles action against the Tigers (8-8, 3-4 SEC), Florida posted a handful of individual
milestone victories en route to winning its 32nd consecutive SEC regular-season
match.
Will
looked every bit like the nation’s top-ranked singles player and posted a
dominate 6-0, 6-1 victory against No. 118-ranked Jen Pfeifler on court one that
gave Florida a 2-0 lead. Will improved to 101-11 in her career, including an
18-1 record this season.
Janowicz
followed with the 50th singles win of her career, defeating Schreimann, 7-6
(0), 6-0. The victory was the 49th of her career, as well as her 30th in dual
match action.
Embree,
ranked No. 11 in the country, downed Emily Flickinger, 7-5, 6-2 for the
clinching dual match victory as well as her 80th career singles win, after
earning her 79th career doubles triumph earlier in the match which was her 12th
consecutive win with Mather, who won her 97th career doubles match.
Hitimana
gave the Gators a 5-0 lead with her 6-2, 6-4 decision against Schippers on
court five, where the Gator junior won her team-leading 12th straight overall
singles match, as well as her 19th consecutive dual match singles victory.
Sophomore
Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium), playing on a season-high court
three, battled hard for her 6-4, 7-5 win against Kurteva that helped Florida
take a 6-0 advantage in the team scoring. The win was Oyen’s 20th this year.
Cercone
provided the finishes touches on the 7-0 victory, as she rallied for a 4-6, 7-6
(1), 1-0 (10-6) over Jackie Kasler and earned her 100th combined singles and
doubles victory. The Gator sophomore, who became the 43rd member of the Gator’s
100-victory club, won her 57th match on the singles court, shortly after
winning her 43rd on the doubles court.
