Lauren Embree Named SEC W-Tennis Freshman of the Week
Thursday, March 4, 2010 | Women's Tennis
The University of Florida's Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, the league office announced Wednesday.
Embree is the third different Gator this season to earn the league's weekly freshman award, with Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) collecting the honor on Feb. 3 and 16, and Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) on Feb. 10.
The trio combined to comprise the nation's No. 1-ranked recruiting class, as rated by tennisrecruiting.net.
Playing the No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles positions, Embree led the Gators to two sweeps over top-15 ranked teams, including No. 6 Duke, the defending NCAA Champion.
She posted a combined 4-0 singles and doubles record, collecting two more singles wins against ranked opponents, as she improved to 17-5 overall and 14-5 against ranked foes, including a win against Duke's No. 1 player, 6-3, 6-3, that gave Florida a 3-0 lead in the team scoring.
Earlier in the same match, Embree paired with Anastasia Revzina (Moscow, Russia) at the No. 2 position and upset Duke's 24th-ranked team of Reka Zsilinszka & Elizabeth Plotkin, 8-4, which clinched the doubles point.
Also with Revzina, provided the clinching doubles point in the heated match against instate rival Florida State that helped set the tone for the singles portion of the dual match. Embree then provided the second singles of the match win to give the Gators a 3-0 lead against FSU en route to the team victory.
“Lauren competed very, very well last week,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvsit said. “When it matter most, she was on top of her game.”
On the doubles court, Embree improved to a team-best 21-3 record this season.
Embree's Individual Results Last Week
Singles
2/23 Lauren McCreless, FSU (44) - W 6-2, 6-1
2/28 Ellah Nze, Duke (104) - W 6-3, 6-3
Doubles (with Anastasia Revzina)
2/23 Sargeant/Segarelli, FSU - W 8-6
2/28 Nze/Granson, Duke - W 8-3
-UF-
