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.
