Gator Country

The University of Florida’s Alex Cercone (Seminole, Fla.) has been named the Southeastern Conference Women’s Tennis Freshman of the Week for the third time this year, the league office announced Tuesday.

The Gator rookie won all four singles and doubles matches she played last week, as she helped Florida (19-1, 8-0 SEC) keep pace in the SEC regular-season championship race.

In singles, Cercone posted her first career double-bagel singles win, as she blanked Kentucky’s Marni Venter, before rallying for a hard-fought 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 win against Vanderbilt’s No. 118 Rachael Dillon that helped the Gators preserve the dual match sweep.

Cercone extended her singles win streak to five, with a 7-1 dual match record against SEC opponents.

On the doubles court, Cercone continued to play with sophomore Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) at the No. 1 position, and the pair won both road matches last week, including the 8-5 decision that clinched the doubles point against Kentucky and the 8-4 win against the Commodores’ No. 58 team that gave Florida one of its two wins that clinched the initial team point.

Cercone and Will are now 6-0 as a team, with a 5-0 record in SEC dual matches.

Florida has a big home weekend with SEC championship implications on the line, as the three teams with undefeated SEC records square off.

The Gators play host to No. 7 Georgia (14-1, 8-0 SEC) on Friday beginning at 5 p.m., before entertaining No. 14 Tennessee (15-4, 7-0 SEC) on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Admission to all regular-season home matches is free.

After this weekend, Florida has just one regular-season match remaining. The Gators play host to South Carolina on Sat., April 16 at 3 p.m., before competing in the SEC Tournament, that runs from April 21-24 in Knoxville, Tenn.

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