Women's Tennis Nets Another Round of Impressive Results at Gator Fall Classic

Saturday, September 26

Gainesville, FL

1:00 PM

Florida Gators

Gator Fall Classic - Day 2 of 3

Women's Tennis Nets Another Round of Impressive Results at Gator Fall Classic

Saturday, September 26, 2009 | Women's Tennis

The Florida women's tennis team turned in another impressive day of play at the Gator Fall Classic Saturday afternoon at the Ring Tennis Complex.

Six of the seven Gators who took the court for singles action posted straight-set victories, while all three doubles teams opened the second day of the tournament with wins.

The featured singles match pit UF freshman Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) against South Florida junior Irene Rehberger, who is ranked No. 50 in the country. The Gator rookie was playing her collegiate singles debut and cruised in the opening set, before Rehberger fought back in the second, jumping out to a 2-0 lead. Embree always kept within striking distance and was serving at 5-all, but couldn't hold, as Rehberger went to the baseline to serve to continue the match into a third set. The Gator rookie, however, broke right back and forced a tiebreaker, where she dropped her first serve and trailed 2-0. Embree got right back by smashing a forehand winner and followed with an ace and an un-returnable serve to get the breaker back on-serve, 3-2. Embree then earned her own mini-break and held for a 5-3 lead, before a ball hit the net cord and bounced over her racquet to even the score again. Embree, however, wouldn't be denied and won the final two points to wrap up the 6-1, 7-6 (4) decision and capture her first collegiate victory.

Also posting wins on the singles court Saturday included sophomore Jessica Alexander (Dallas, Texas), sophomore newcomer Claire Bartlett (Chattanooga, Tenn.), sophomore Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.), senior Anastasia Revzina (Russia) and freshman Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.).

“I think I did everything I was supposed to and I was happy with my results, as well as all of my teammates results,” shared Embree on her inaugural collegiate singles performance. “It's a lot different playing a college tennis match because you have your teammates cheering for you and encouraging you.”

Mather was the first Gator to complete her singles match, as she topped South Florida's Jessica Zok, 6-1, 6-2, the same score she posted in Friday's opening round.

“I feel like I'm playing pretty well for this time of the year,” Mather said. “I'm just loving the team. Practice is great. We're all practicing so hard and pushing each other and you can see everyone get better.”

Bartlett was the next off the court and just missed a double-bagel with a 6-1, 6-0 decision over Allyn Mueller. Alexander followed with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Lauren Shumate, before Will out-slugged Ecaterina Vasenina, 6-3, 6-1, to record her second consecutive impressive victory and improve to 5-0 in her young singles career.

“Some of our younger players were tested in their singles matches and I thought they responded very well,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “Lauren was forced to make some changes in her second set and I was proud that she was able to do that. Allie continues to play more aggressive and she was able to throughout her match. Joanna is getting the ball to rotate more like she did at the end of the season and that makes her really, really tough to play.

“What I'm most proud of after two days of play here is the way we've looked physically,” Thornqvist said. “For us to look like we have and play without soreness, blisters or other things this early in the year, tells me that our players really did a good job physically getting their bodies ready even before practice began.”

Action concludes on Sunday, when the men's and women's teams begin doubles play at 9 a.m., followed by men's singles action then women's singles matches. Admission is free.

2009 Gator Fall Classic

Ring Tennis Complex

Gainesville, Fla.

September 26, 2009

Complete Singles Results (CORRECTED RESULTS)

Lauren Embree, UF d. Irene Rehberger, USF 6-1, 7-6 (4)

Allie Will, UF d. Ecaterina Vasenina, USF 6-3, 6-1

Anastasia Revzina, UF d. Melissa Koning, USF 6-2, 6-3

Joanna Mather, UF d. Jessica Zok, USF 6-1, 6-2

Claire Bartlett, UF d. Allyn Mueller, USF 6-1, 6-0

Jessica Alexander, UF d. Lauren Shumate, USF 6-2, 6-3

Soledad Podlipnik, UM d. Brittany Borsanyi, UF 6-4, 7-6 (4)