Senior
Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) capped an outstanding home career by leading
the second-seeded University of Florida women’s tennis team to a 6-0 victory
against Washington State in the second round of the 2012 NCAA Women’s Tennis Championships
held at Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex on Saturday.
Florida
will face Michigan (21-7) in the NCAA Round of 16 on Thursday, May 17 in
Athens, Ga., beginning at 7 p.m. ET. The 15th-ranked Wolverines defeated Texas
A&M, 4-3, in their second round match. Florida is 2-0 all-time against
Michigan, taking the 5-2 decision on Feb. 12, 2010 in the ITA National Team
Indoor Round of 16 and the 5-0 victory on May 15, 1997, in the NCAA Round of
16.
The
Gators improved to 13-1 all-time in NCAA Round of 32 matches and will be making
their 29th overall appearance in the Round of 16, including their eighth
straight trip.
Mather,
who has helped Florida to a 54-0 record at home during her four-year career,
earned wins on the doubles and singles courts Saturday, as she provided the
first singles victory with a 6-3, 6-2 decision against Andjela Kankaras and
earn her 16th consecutive win. Mather’s first set was on-serve through five
games before the Gator senior earned a break and took a 4-2 lead. She broke
again in the eighth game and served out for the first frame, carrying that
momentum into the second set where she jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Kankaras held
on her next two services games, as did Mather, who earned one last break in the
seventh game before serving out to take the win in her final home match.
Sophomore
Alexandra Cercone (Seminole, Fla.) continued her impressive play showing
in NCAA team singles matches, as she improved to 6-0 all-time in NCAA dual
match singles action after her 6-0 6-2 victory against Charlotte Koning that
gave Florida a 3-0 lead . Cercone won the first eight games of the match before
Koning held to break up the bagel. The Gator sophomore earned another break in
the fifth game that was the first of three straight breaks in the set, as
Cercone ended the trend by serving out for the victory.
The
matches on courts one, two and four all were playing match point at the same
time and the Gators won that final point on all three to claim the 6-0
decision.
Sophomore
Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) polished off her 6-4, 6-0 win on
court four against Elizavete Luzina, just moments before junior Allie Will
(Boca Raton, Fla.) downed Liudimila Vasilieva 6-3, 6-1 and junior Lauren
Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) defeated Elisabeth Fournier, 6-2, 6-3.
Oyen
found herself trailing midway through the first set against Luzina, who earned
a break in the fifth game and Oyen wasn’t able to square the match until
breaking in the eighth game and holding for a 5-4 lead. She then broke Luzina
at love to take the set and won the first four points on her serve to take a
1-0 lead in the second as she seemed to assume the momentum for the rest of the
match en route to the win. Oyen improved to 20-1 in dual matches this year and
collected her 49th career singles win.
Will
was in an early hole on court one, where Vasilieva opened with a break and held
a love to take a quick 2-0 lead. Will was able to get the set back on-serve
with a break in the sixth game and then held, before winning the next two games
to take the frame. She rode that into the second set, where she jumped out to a
4-0 lead, before Vasilieva was able to hold serve and avoid the bagel, as Will
won the final two games and earn her ninth consecutive victory and improve to
22-1 overall year, including 17-1 in dual match action.
Embree
opened with a 4-0 lead against Fournier, holding at love on her first trip to
the baseline. She held serve throughout that first frame and won it 6-2. The
two traded breaks early in the second set, which was on-serve until Embree
broke Fournier in the seventh game and held for a 5-3 lead. The Gator
All-American then earned one last break, losing just one point on Fournier’s
serve to earn her 15th straight win.
UF
sophomore Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) led Olga Musilovich, 7-5,
5-1, when the Gators clinched the dual match and play was halted.
The
Gators came out strong again on the doubles court, where their top two teams
dominated 8-1 and 8-2 and captured the doubles point for the important 1-0
lead.
Florida’s
top-ranked tandem of Sofie Oyen and Allie Will raced out to a 7-0
lead before Ksenia Googe and Andjela Kankaras were able to hold and prevent the
shutout, before Will used her powerful serve to close out the first individual
decision of the dual match in 37 minutes.
Lauren
Embree
and Joanna Mather continued their impressive run together, as they
polished off Liudmila Vasilieva and Elizaveta Luzina to clinch the doubles
point and win their 22nd consecutive match, a run tied for the fourth longest
in program history. Embree and Mather improved to 25-2 overall this year,
including 22-0 in dual match play and 51-7 all-time in their career together.
