Following
last week’s impressive run to win its fourth consecutive Southeastern
Conference Tournament championship, Florida jumped into the top spot of the women’s
tennis national team rankings administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis
Association, which also featured Gator senior Lauren Embree (Marco
Island, Fla.) as the No. 1-ranked singles player in the nation for a sixth
consecutive ranking period.
During
its three-match trek, Florida (22-2) defeated No. 18 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Texas
A&M and No. 3 Georgia to capture the league’s postseason title en route to
trading places with North Carolina atop the weekly ITA Team standings.
This
is the fourth time this year the Gators are ranked No. 1 and the first time
since January 30.
Embree
has been the No. 1-ranked singles player since the February 26 biweekly chart,
which will actually be re-administered on May 3 following the announcement of
the NCAA Team, Singles and Doubles Championships fields.
All
seven Gators earned a spot in the latest national singles rankings, with Sofie
Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) checking in at No. 16, Alexandra Cercone
(Seminole, Fla.) at No. 53, Brianna Morgan (Beverly Hills, Calif.) at
No. 87, Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) at No. 120, Danielle
Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) at No. 122 and Olivia Janowicz (Palm
Bay, Fla.) at No. 124.
Embree
and Oyen jumped from No. 22 to No. 12 in the national doubles rankings thanks
in part to the tandem’s 9-8 (7-2) win on Sunday against Georgia’s No. 1-ranked
team of Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia, which maintained its spot in the this
week’s listing.
By
winning the SEC Tournament, Florida earned the league’s automatic berth into
the NCAA Championships field of 64. The NCAA Team Championships selections will
be announced on April 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET on NCAA.com, with the names individual
singles and doubles participants revealed on May 1 by 6 p.m. on the same
website.
First
round and second round matches of the team competition will be held May 10, 11
and 12 at 16 campus sites, with those locations also to be announced on April
30.
