Women's Tennis Ranked No. 1 in ITA National Poll, Embree Still No. 1 Singles Player
Thursday, April 25, 2013 | Women's Tennis
Following last week's impressive run to win its fourth consecutive Southeastern Conference Tournament championship, Florida jumped into the top spot of the women's tennis national team rankings administered by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, which also featured Gator senior Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) as the No. 1-ranked singles player in the nation for a sixth consecutive ranking period.
During its three-match trek, Florida (22-2) defeated No. 18 Vanderbilt, No. 4 Texas A&M and No. 3 Georgia to capture the league's postseason title en route to trading places with North Carolina atop the weekly ITA Team standings.
This is the fourth time this year the Gators are ranked No. 1 and the first time since January 30.
Embree has been the No. 1-ranked singles player since the February 26 biweekly chart, which will actually be re-administered on May 3 following the announcement of the NCAA Team, Singles and Doubles Championships fields.
All seven Gators earned a spot in the latest national singles rankings, with Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) checking in at No. 16, Alexandra Cercone (Seminole, Fla.) at No. 53, Brianna Morgan (Beverly Hills, Calif.) at No. 87, Caroline Hitimana (Waterloo, Belgium) at No. 120, Danielle Collins (St. Petersburg, Fla.) at No. 122 and Olivia Janowicz (Palm Bay, Fla.) at No. 124.
Embree and Oyen jumped from No. 22 to No. 12 in the national doubles rankings thanks in part to the tandem's 9-8 (7-2) win on Sunday against Georgia's No. 1-ranked team of Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia, which maintained its spot in the this week's listing.
By winning the SEC Tournament, Florida earned the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Championships field of 64. The NCAA Team Championships selections will be announced on April 30 at 5:30 p.m. ET on NCAA.com, with the names individual singles and doubles participants revealed on May 1 by 6 p.m. on the same website.
First round and second round matches of the team competition will be held May 10, 11 and 12 at 16 campus sites, with those locations also to be announced on April 30.
Women's National Team Rankings
Administered by the ITA
NCAA Division I Tennis
April 23, 2013
| Rank | Avg | School | Previous |
| 1 | 81.60 | University of Florida | 2 |
| 2 | 77.51 | North Carolina | 1 |
| 3 | 72.98 | University of Georgia | 3 |
| 4 | 72.38 | Texas A&M University | 4 |
| 5 | 70.32 | University of Southern California | 5 |
| 6 | 57.74 | University of Michigan | 6 |
| 7 | 57.51 | California | 9 |
| 8 | 57.19 | UCLA | 7 |
| 9 | 55.91 | University of Alabama | 8 |
| 10 | 49.44 | University of Miami (Florida) | 10 |
| 11 | 49.33 | Clemson University | 13 |
| 12 | 48.66 | Stanford | 12 |
| 13 | 46.07 | University of Virginia | 17 |
| 14 | 44.88 | Duke University | 11 |
| 15 | 44.05 | Northwestern University | 16 |
| 16 | 43.54 | University of Nebraska | 14 |
| 17 | 41.57 | Texas Tech University | 15 |
| 18 | 40.21 | Vanderbilt University | 18 |
| 19 | 37.18 | Baylor University | 28 |
| 20 | 36.76 | Rice University | 20 |
| 21 | 33.77 | Auburn University | 19 |
| 22 | 33.50 | Georgia Tech | 23 |
| 23 | 33.36 | University of Notre Dame | 21 |
| 24 | 32.07 | University of Tulsa | 24 |
| 25 | 31.95 | University of Texas at Austin | 26 |
For all of the latest information on Florida women's tennis:
Official Website: http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/women/
Twitter: @GatorZoneTennis and @GatorZoneNews
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