Florida’s Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) and Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) lost to Alabama’s No. 7-ranked Alexa Guarachi and Mary Anne Macfarlane in the round of 16 at the NCAA Doubles Championships held at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex at the Atkins Tennis Center on Friday afternoon.
“Alabama was just too good today,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “They have played well together all year and showed that chemistry on court. Hats off to them. I liked our fight and competitiveness in the second set. One break was the difference and at this stage of the tournament sometimes that’s all a great team needs.”
The Crimson Tide raced out to a 4-0 lead to start the match before the Gators earned a break in the fifth game. Alabama, however, broke right back and held at love to close the first set.
The entire second set was on serve and neither team held a break point through the first eight games until Guarachi and Macfarlane won the first three points en route to taking the break and a 5-4 lead. They won the first three points on their serve and after on Gator point, closed out the straight set win to advance to the quarterfinals.
Embree and Oyen close the season with a 28-7 all-time as a tandem, including an 18-6 mark this year.
Individually, the doubles Embree concludes her collegiate career with a 119-25 record. The 119 victories are tied for the third-most in Gator history while her career doubles winning percentage of 82.6 percent is the 12th highest by a Gator.
Oyen ends her junior season with a 21-14 record and carries an 82-26 career mark into next year.
“It’s been a great season for us,” Thornqvist said. “I loved the way we competed all year. There’s not much more I can say about Lauren that I can say that I haven’t already, she’s a champion. She’s one of the greatest four-year collegiate tennis players in history. She’s meant so much to our program on and off the court and her legend will continue on our future Gator teams who learned from her preparation and training.”
NCAA Women’s Tennis Doubles Championships
Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex at the Atkins Tennis Center
Urbana, Ill.
Friday, May 24, 2013
Second Round (Round of 16) - Gators Only
#7 Alexa Guarachi and Mary Anne Macfarlane (ALA) d. #11 Lauren Embree/Sofie Oyen (FLA), 6-1, 6-4
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