Florida Gators
Riviera/ITA All-American - Day 1 of 4
Embree and Will Advance at Riviera/ITA All-American Tennis Championships
Friday, October 7, 2011 | Women's Tennis
University of Florida juniors Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) and Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) were equally impressive in their respective 2011-12 collegiate singles debuts on Thursday, as both advanced to the round of 16 at the Riviera/ITA All-American Tennis Championships held at the Riviera Tennis Club.
Embree, ranked fifth in the country, downed Boston College's Katarina Galic 6-0, 6-3 in the first round and will play Kansas State's Petra Niedermayerova, who dropped as many games in her opening match as Embree.
Will, the second-ranked and No. 2 seed in the national event, defeated Baylor's 23rd-ranked Nina Secerbegovic, Baylor 6-3, 6-3. Will next plays a familiar foe in Ole Miss' 22nd-ranked Kristi Boxx.
Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) wasn't as fortunate, as she lost a tough 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 battle to Arizona State's 11th-ranked Jacqueline Cako. Mather will continue singles action in the consolation draw, but her opponent had not been determined at the time of this release.
“Overall, I thought we did ok. Lauren and Allie both played clean matches and Joanna actually played very, very well,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “It was 7-5 in the third and was high-level tennis. She got a little unlucky at the end, but overall I was real proud of her tennis because she keeps improving every year. Even though she lost, she shouldn't hang her head because it was an excellent , quality match.”
Embree and Mather later paired in the 24-team doubles event and lost to Harvard's Norton and Tachibana, 8-4. The Gator tandem will begin consolation draw competition on Friday.
“In doubles we didn't play very well. It looked like we hadn't played together in five months, but it's nothing that can't be fixed with more matches and practice,” Thornqvist said.
Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) and Will earned a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed in the doubles event and will begin play on Friday.
Complete results and additional tournament information can be found at www.ITAtennis.com.
2011 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships
Riviera Tennis Club
Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
UF Results Only
Singles, First Round (Round of 32)
(11) Jacqueline Cako, Arizona State d. (26) Joanna Mather, UF 2-6, 6-4, 7-5
(5) Lauren Embree, UF d. (84) Katarina Galic, Boston College 6-0, 6-3
(2) Allie Will, UF d. (23) Nina Secerbegovic, Baylor 6-3, 6-3
Doubles, First Round (Field of 24)
Norton/Tachibana, Harvard d. (12) Lauren Embree/Joanna Mather, UF 8-4
(4) Sofie Oyen/Allie Will, UF – first round bye
