Embree Wins 100th Career Singles Match
University of Florida Team Page
Less than 24 hours after suffering its first loss of the season, the second-ranked University of Florida women’s tennis team returned to the court and knocked off top-ranked North Carolina, 4-2, at the Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center on Monday afternoon.
The
Gators (4-1) didn’t have much time to regroup after Sunday’s 4-0 loss at No. 4 Duke, but Florida stepped up and handed the talent-laden Tar Heels (9-1) their first defeat of the season. Even more impressive was that the match was played indoors, a surface that North Carolina dominated during last weekend’s run to win the ITA National Team Indoor Championships and was much more familiar and comfortable than the Gators.
For the second consecutive day, the Gators found themselves in a fierce battle on the doubles court. And for the second consecutive day found themselves trailing 1-0 after the hosts took the hard-fought initial team point after a tiebreak on the final match in progress.
“Today was the day we found out that our team had heart,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “If you want to achieve anything, that’s the number one ingredient. I told them after the match that I was more proud of this achievement, to play away at North Carolina, after losing the doubles point, after losing to Duke, and comeback from behind to do what we did today shows what we have to work with.
“Winning aside, I was proud of how we battled. We showed resiliency,” Thornqvist shared. “We were so close on both of these doubles points, but we didn’t let that discourage us. We found out a lot today. There are still a lot of things we can do to get better, but we have the toughness, we have the resiliency and those are the ingredients if you want to achieve anything.”
North Carolina won the doubles point and jumped out to a 2-0 lead after taking the singles win on court five.
Florida won the first set in singles on four courts and North Carolina on the other two, as the Tar Heels put extra pressure on the visiting Gators.
That’s when Florida mounted its comeback, as Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) posted the first singles win a 6-2, 6-1 upset against No. 79-ranked Tessa Lyons.
“In both of the doubles that we lost we competed great,” Thornqvist said. “We had match points but they didn’t hang their heads. They were able to compartmentalize that loss. Olivia was automatic and I just loved that. As an athlete you have to have a short memory at times and be able to compartmentalize the things that go against you and remember what’s good. Olivia was obviously able to do that to a great extent today.”
Freshman Brianna Morgan (Beverly Hills, Calif.) then posted a 6-1, 6-1 win against Lauren McHale and evened the team scoring at 2-all.
That’s when Florida’s superstar Lauren
Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) rallied on court No. 1, where she was facing seventh-ranked Gina Suarez-Malaguti. The fourth-ranked Gator won a tough opening set 6-4, but dropped the second 6-1. She then took her game to another level and closed out the match 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 that gave Florida the 3-2 lead.
The three-set victory was the 100th career singles win for Embree, who became the 24th Gator to reach the 100-singles win plateau and just the eighth player in program history to record 100 wins in both singles and doubles. Embree’s career singles stands at 100-14, while her doubles record is a remarkable 102-18.
Courts two and three were the final matches and both were in a third set, tight early until Alexandra Cercone (Seminole, Fla.) started to break away with a 4-1 lead against No. 212 Whitney Kay. Sofie Oyen (Belgium) was battling on court two against Zoe De Bruycker and was even at 2-all before the Gator junior started to make her move, as she overcame losing the first set and provided the clinching dual match victory, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Cercone was serving up 5-4 when play was abandoned
“This is one of the best wins that I can remember,” Thornqvist said. “The biggest hole we’ve been in as a unit and to be able to dig ourselves out of it against this quality of a team that North Carolina has. This North Carolina squad is a tremendously balanced team, indoors in particular they are absolutely lethal. For us to be able to what we did today against that quality team after losing to Duke, I just can’t say enough.”
The Gators improved to 9-7 all-time against No. 1-ranked teams, including last year’s 4-0 victory against then-No. 1 UCLA in the final of the 2012 NCAA Championships.
Florida began the match earning the first win as Embree and Oyen upset 10th-ranked Whitey Kay and Ashley Dai, 8-3
On court three, Alexandra Cercone and Brianna Morgan held a 7-6 lead, but Lauren McHale and Tessa Lyons found a way to win three straight games for the 9-7 win, setting the stage for court two, where UF’s Danielle Collins and Olivia Janowicz held a match point but the UNC duo of Gina Suarez-Malaguti and Zoe De Bruycker fought it off and forced a tiebreak, where it captured won it 8-5 and clinched the doubles point for the Tar Heels.
The Gators return to Gainesville where they host No. 20 Clemson on Friday at 3 p.m. and No. 7 Stanford on Sunday at 11 a.m.
Sunday’s match will be part of a historic event, as the USTA launches its new “College MatchDay” series and the debut event features the Gators and the Cardinal. RadioTennis.com will provide live radio commentary of the match.
No. 2 Florida at No. 1 North Carolina
Cone-Kenfield Tennis Center
Chapel Hill, N.C.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Final Score: Florida 4, North Carolina 2
Doubles (order of finish: 1, 3, 2*)
1. Lauren Embree/Sofie Oyen, UF d. Whitney Kay/Ashley Dai (10), UNC 8-3
2. Gina Suarez-Malaguti/Zoe De Bruycker UNC d. Danielle Collins/Olivia Janowicz, UF, 9-8 (8-5)*
3. Lauren McHale/Tessa Lyons, UNC d. Alexandra Cercone/Brianna Morgan, UF, 9-7
Singles (order of finish: 5, 6, 4, 1, 2*)
1. Lauren Embree (4), UF d. Gina Suarez-Malaguti (7), UNC 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
2. Sofie Oyen (9), UF d. Zoe De Bruycker (30), UNC, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3*
3. Alexandra Cercone (116), UF led Whitney Kay (21), UNC, 6-4, 4-6, 5-4 DNF
4. Brianna Morgan, UF d. Lauren McHale (122), UNC 6-1, 6-1
5. Caroline Price (31), UNC d. Danielle Collins (44), UF 6-4, 6-2
6. Olivia Janowicz, UF d. Tessa Lyons (79), UNC, 6-2, 6-1
Records: Florida 4-1; North Carolina 9-1
For all of the latest information on Florida women’s tennis:
Official Website: http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/women/
Twitter: @GatorZoneTennis and @GatorZoneNews
-##-
