Florida Gators
ITA All-American - Day 2 of 4
W-Tennis Doubles Team Reaches Semifinals at Riviera All-American Championships
Saturday, October 10, 2009 | Women's Tennis
The University of Florida women's tennis doubles team of Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) and Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) advanced to the semifinals of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships on Friday at the Riviera Tennis Club.
Embree and Will, both of whom are freshmen, blanked Georgia Tech's 11th-ranked team of Amanda McDowell and Irina Falconi, 8-0, and moved into the final four of the prestigious national event.
“Lauren and Allie were in a zone today on the doubles court,” UF associate head coach Dave Balogh said. “The competed very hard and made just four errors in the entire match. I hope they can continue this run.”
After earning the impressive doubles victory, the Gator rookies turned their attention to the singles court, where both were in action in the round of 32 with senior teammate Marrit Boonstra (The Netherlands).
Will turned in an impressive 6-2, 6-4 victory over Stanford's fifth-ranked Hilary Barte, while Embree knocked out North Carolina's 12th-ranked Sanaz Marand, 7-5, 7-6. Boonstra on the other hand was as fortunate, as she dropped a tough 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 decision to California's 18th-ranked Marina Cossou.
“She was down 4-0 in the third set,” Balogh said of Boonstra. “She did fight her way back, but it was just too much to fall behind to an opponent as good as Cossou.”
Meanwhile. Embree and Will returned to action in the quarterfinals of the singles draw, where both saw their impressive run come to an end.
Embree, who played her way through three rounds of qualifying action to reach this stage of the tournament, lost to California's fourth-ranked Jana Juricova, 6-2, 6-4.
Will, who was playing her ninth singles match since Oct. 3 and her sixth in the last four days, fell just short to Georgia's second-ranked Chelsey Gullickson, 7-6, 7-6.
“I'm so proud of the two of them,” Balogh praised. “They gave a great effort and played a lot of matches to get this deep in their first national tournament. I couldn't ask for them to compete or fight any harder than they did today.”
The Riviera/ITA All-American Championships is considered the first leg of the collegiate Grand Slam.
Riviera/ITA Women's All-American Championships
Riviera Tennis Club
Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Friday, October 09, 2009
UF Results Only
Singles, Round of 16
Allie Will (UF) d. (5) Hilary Barte (Stanford), 6-2, 6-4
Lauren Embree (UF) d. (12) Sanaz Marand (North Carolina), 7-5, 7-6
(18) Marina Cossou (California) d. (3) Marrit Boonstra (UF), 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
Singles, Quarterfinals
(2) Chelsey Gullickson (Georgia) d. Allie Will (UF), 7-6, 7-6
(4) Jana Juricova (California) d. Lauren Embree (UF), 6-2, 6-4
Doubles, Quarterfinals
Lauren Embree/Allie Will (UF) d. (11) Amanda McDowell/Irina Falconi (Georgia Tech), 8-0
-UF-
