The
top-ranked University of Florida women’s tennis team earned the hard-fought
doubles point, where senior All-American Lauren Embree (Marco Island,
Fla.) earned the 100th career doubles victory, and the Gators defeated No. 15
Baylor, 7-0, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Linder Stadium at the Ring
Tennis Complex.
“We
showed a lot of class today, Baylor’s a great team,” UF head coach Roland
Thornqvist said. “They fight really hard and are more skilled in doubles
than I anticipated. I thought we showed quality to get out with the doubles
point.”
Embree
became the 14th different Gator to reach the 100-win plateau for doubles, as
she improved her 100-18 in her distinguished collegiate doubles career. Embree also
notched her 99th career singles victory with her 6-4, 6-7 (6), 1-0 (10-7) win
against 16th-ranked Ema Burgic.
The
gusty Gator senior who is known for outlasting her opponent in pressure-filled team
competitions, was involved in yet another lengthy match even though the team
outcome had already been secured. In what proved to be one of the best and most
competitive matches of the day, Embree won the first set after earning a break in
the final game. She then found herself receiving, down 5-2 before staging one
of her patented comebacks, rallying to win four straight games and taking a 6-5
lead. Burgic held serve and forced a tiebreak, as she had to fight off two
match points before holding on her second game-point opportunity.
In
the second-set tiebreak, Embree jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but Burgic battled
back and with a mini-break on the ninth point and held on her next two trips to
the baseline for the 6-5 advantage. Embree’s next serve tied the breaker at
6-all, but Burgic broke before holding to force a third set.
“I
got a little mad,” Embree said of falling behind. “I crawled my way back and
had a couple chances in the tiebreak. She kept fighting, credit to her.”
Embree
again jumped out and took a 3-0 lead before Burgic won three straight points.
Embree held for 4-3 and earned a mini-break for a 5-4 lead. She won both of her
next two serves and held a 7-4 advantage. Burgic also held her next two serves
and after Embree held captured another break, cutting Embree’s lead to 8-7. The
Gator senior, however, won the final two points to end the match.
“Anything
can happen in a 10-point tiebreak so I just tried to focus one point at a time
and take control when I had my chances,” Embree shared.
“You
would have though the team score was tied at 3-3 with the level of intensity in
that final match on,” Thornqvist said. “You have to give Burgic a lot of credit
because there were four or five times when I thought she was going to go away
and she found a way to battle back into the match. Lauren is just the best in
the business when it comes to close matches at the end and today was no
different. She has the heart of a warrior.”
Freshman
Brianna Morgan (Beverly Hills, Calif.) was the first Gator off the
court, as she posted a decisive 6-1, 6-1 victory over Alex Leatu in 54 minutes.
The rookie held at love to begin the match and jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Leatu took
Morgan’s next serve, but the Gator ripped off the next four games to take the
opening set. Leatu held to begin the second set, but that would be her only
game, as Morgan rolled through the final six games for the straight-set win and
gave Florida a 2-0 lead.
Alexandra
Cercone
(Seminole, Fla.) was the next off the court with her 6-2, 6-2 victory against
Jordaan Sanford at the number three position. Cercone earned breaks in the
fourth, sixth and eighth games to claim the first set, before racing out to a
5-0 lead in the second as she broke in the final game to capture the win and
give Florida a 3-0 lead.
Danielle
Collins
(St. Petersburg, Fla.) provided the clinching singles victory, a 6-4, 6-0
decision over Kiah Generette on court four, where she capped the match with a
beautifully placed lob for a winner. Collins began the match with a break and
rode that to the first set before posting a bagel in the second for the
straight-set victory.
Top-ranked
Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) then downed Megan Horter, 6-4, 6-3,
and gave the Gators their fifth point of the match. The Gator junior jumped out
to a 3-0 lead, up one break. Horter broke late, but couldn’t hold off Oyen, who
managed the break to take the first set. The two traded breaks early in the
second and Oyen claimed another in the sixth game for the 4-2 lead. She then
held in her final two games to close out the match.
Olivia
Janowicz
(Palm Bay, Fla.) needed three sets to earn Florida’s sixth point of the dual
match, as she emerged with a 6-2, 5-7, 1-0 (10-5) decision over Victoria
Kisialeva. After winning a quick first set, Janowicz and her opponent held to
begin the second before the next nine games were all breaks, as Kisialeva ended
the streak by holding in the 12th game and forcing a third set. Janowicz jumped
out to a 4-0 lead in the 10-point third-set super-tiebreak, as Kisialeva roared
back to take a 5-4 lead. The Gator junior refocused and won the final six
points and earned the one hour and 43 minute victory.
Florida
captured the doubles point with victories on courts one and three. The Gator
pair of Alexandra Cercone and Brianna Morgan overcame a slow
start when they trailed Megan Horter and Alex Leatu, 3-1, and were the first to
post a result after claiming seven straight games to en route to the their 8-3
decision in 46 minutes, capped by Cercone holding at love for the win.
On
court one, Embree teamed with Sofie Oyen defeated Ema Burgic and Kiah
Generette, 8-5, to secure the first team point of the dual match. The Gator
pair jumped out to an early 3-1 lead thanks to an early break and that’s all it
needed as the tandem held serve throughout, earning its second break in the
final game where they lost just one point to take the match. Embree fell behind
15-40 on her serve in the 12th game, but the Gators battled back and won three
straight points for their first game-point. They had one more after that,
before having to fend off a break point, which they did and ended the battle on
their third game-point opportunity to take the 7-5 lead. They carried that
momentum in the final game for the victory and Embree’s milestone win.
“It’s
cool,” Embree said of reaching the 100-win plateau. “That’s a lot of matches
and a pretty cool stat.”
Florida’s
Danielle Collins and Olivia Janowicz were serving with a 40-15
lead and their court two doubles match even at 6-all against Jordaan Sanford
and Victoria Kisialeva when play was halted.
