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The second-ranked University of Florida women’s tennis team earned a quick 4-0 victory against Kentucky at the Boone Tennis Complex on Friday and won its 11th consecutive match.
The Gators (18-2, 11-1 SEC) won the doubles point before Alexandra Cercone (Seminole, Fla.), Sofie Oyen (Belgium) and Brianna Morgan (Beverly Hills, Calif.) won their respective singles matches to clinch the team victory. The remaining matches were abandoned once the outcome was decided.
“We had to move the match indoors because of the weather and we played well,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “Sofie was exceptional today.”
Florida wraps up its regular season on Sunday, when the Gators travel to Nashville and play No. 18 Vanderbilt (14-9, 7-5 SEC) beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET (12:30 p.m. CT).
With Friday’s win, the Gators continue to control their own destiny and can capture no worse than a share of the 2013 Southeastern Conference regular-season title with a win on Sunday against the Commodores.
Florida enters the final day of the SEC regular-season tied with No. 3 Texas A&M (19-2, 11-1 SEC) and No. 4 Georgia (18-2, 11-1 SEC) atop of the league standings. The Aggies finish at Ole Miss (14-11, 5-7 SEC) and the Lady Bulldogs host No. 8 Alabama (18-3, 10-2 SEC) on Sunday.
Florida began Friday’s match winning the doubles point, as the tandem of Oyen and Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) defeated Caitlin McGraw and Nadia Ravita, 8-6, in the clinching match, after the Gator’s Cercone and Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) topped Stephanie Fox and CeCe Witten, 8-4, on court two and the Wildcat’s Khristina Blajkevitch and Jessica Stiles downed UF rookies Danielle Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) and Morgan, 8-4, at the No. 3 position.
For Embree, the win was her 112th victory on the doubles court, where she moved into a tie for the seventh-most in program history with Joanna Mather (2009-12). Embree and Oyen improved to 21-3 all-time as a pair, including 11-2 this year in dual match action.
Cercone was the first Gator off the singles court with a 6-2, 6-0 win against Khristina Blajkevitch on court three. Oyen followed with a 6-2, 6-2 over Jessica Stiles at No. 2, before Morgan provided the clinching victory with a 6-1, 6-2 mark versus Caitlin McGraw at the No. 4 spot.
Embree was leading her match in the second set on court one, while Janowicz had just finished the first game of her contest on court five when play was abandoned. Action at the number six position never started inside the four-court indoor facility.
No. 2 Florida at No. 47 Kentucky
Hilary J. Boone Tennis Complex
Lexington, Ky.
Friday, April 12, 2013
Final Score: Florida def. Kentucky, 4-0
Doubles (Order of Finish: 2, 3, 1*)
1 – #20 Sofie Oyen/Lauren Embree (UF) def. Caitlin McGraw/Nadia Ravita (UK) 8-6*
2 – Alexandra Cercone/Olivia Janowicz (UF) def. Stephanie Fox/CeCe Witten (UK) 8-4
3 – Khristina Blajkevitch/Jessica Stiles (UK) def. Danielle Collins/Brianna Morgan (UF) 8-4
Singles (Order of Finish: 3, 2, 4*)
1 – #1 Lauren Embree (UF) vs. #22 Nadia Ravita (UK) 7-6 (3) 1-1 (abd.)
2 – #13 Sofie Oyen (UF) def. Jessica Stiles (UK) 6-2, 6-2
3 – #57 Alexandra Cercone (UF) def. Khristina Blajkevitch (UK) 6-2, 6-0
4 – #104 Brianna Morgan (UF) def. Caitlin McGraw (UK) 6-1, 6-2*
5 – #125 Olivia Janowicz (UF) vs. Stephanie Fox (UK) 1-0 (abd.)
6 – CeCe Witten (UK) vs. #113 Danielle Collins (UF) (DNS)
RECORDS: Florida 18-2, 11-1 SEC; Kentucky 12-11, 3-9 SEC
For all of the latest information on Florida women’s tennis:
Official Website: http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/women/
Twitter: @GatorZoneTennis and @GatorZoneNews
