Gator Country

Lauren Embree, who sealed Florida's national championship win on Tuesday, will seek an individual title in singles play starting Wednesday. / Photo by Kathy Cafazzo, UF Communications

Fresh off a national championship, the Florida Gators women’s tennis player selected to play in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships are anticipating their matchups, which the NCAA Selection Committee announced Tuesday.

The 64-player singles draw and the 32-team doubles draw will be played at the Taube Family Tennis Center in Stanford, Calif., beginning on Wednesday.

Freshman Alex Cercone earned a spot in the NCAA Singles Championship, along with sophomore Lauren Embree, freshman Olivia Janowicz, junior Joanna Mather and sophomore Allie Will.

Cercone and Will also received a berth into the 32-team doubles draw that begins on May 26 and culminates with the final on May 30.

Cercone, who has compiled a 37-10 record following Tuesday’s NCAA Team final against Stanford, will play Virginia’s 27th-ranked Lindsey Hardenbergh in the first round. The 54th-ranked Gator rookie has won 13 consecutive singles matches.

Embree earned her second-straight berth into the NCAA Singles Championships and enters Tuesday’s team final with a perfect 24-0 singles record this season, all coming in dual-match action. The 17th-ranked Embree faces Miami’s sixth-ranked Bianca Eichkorn in the opening round on Wednesday.

Janowicz, who has two regular-season singles titles to her credit, has a 34-7 record and sports a 19-match winning streak. The 53rd-ranked rookie will play Arizona State’s 12th-ranked Jacqueline Cako.

Mather, ranked No. 42, is making her first-ever appearance in the NCAA Singles Draw and will take on Marshall’s 52nd-ranked Michaela Kissell. The Gator junior is 29-8 in singles action this year and 70-23 in her career.

Will, the No. 6 seed in the event and seventh-ranked player in the country, is 33-4 this season on the singles court, with an astounding 81-9 career record. The Gators sophomore, who also will be making her second-straight trip to the NCAA Singles event, meets Virginia’s 60th-ranked Emily Fraser.

Cercone and Will, the No. 2-seed in the NCAA Doubles field, drew Virginia’s 32nd-ranked Hardenbergh and Erin Vierra in the first round. 

The five singles selections is tied for the most by any school in the 2011 field with Stanford, which plays host to the entire championships.

This is the seventh time in the 30-year history of the NCAA individual Championships when at least five Gators were selected for the singles event, with a program record-six Gators earning a bid in 1997.

NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles & Doubles Championships
Taube Family Tennis Center * Stanford, Calif.
Singles, May 25-30
Doubles, May 26-30

Singles, First Round Pairings
No. 42 Joanna Mather, UF vs. No. Michaela Kissell, Marshall
No. 7 Allie Will, UF vs. No. 60 Emily Fraser, Virginia
No. 54 Alex Cercone, UF vs. No. 27 Lindsey Hardenbergh, Virginia
No. 17 Lauren Embree, UF vs. No. 6 Bianca Eichkorn, Miami
No. 53 Olivia Janowicz, UF vs. No. 12 Jacqueline Cako, Arizona State

Doubles, First Round
No. 2 Alex Cercone/Allie Will, UF vs. No. 32 Lindsey Hardenbergh/Erin
Vierra, Virginia

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