Gator Country

Florida sophomore Lauren Embree reacts after a doubles point during the Gators' 4-3 win against top-seeded Stanford to win the 2011 NCAA Championship on Tuesday at Taube Tennis Stadium on the campus of Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. / UF Communications photo by Kathy Cafazzo

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Sophomore Lauren Embree rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the third set, forced a tiebreaker, where she overcame a 2-0 hole and earned an epic 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) victory and provided the clinching 4-3 win against top-seeded Stanford and helped Florida win the 2011 NCAA Championship on Tuesday at Taube Tennis Stadium on the campus of Stanford University.

Embree is the first to clinch the NCAA team title with a third-set tie-breaker victory in the final match on the courts since the collegiate tennis began the doubles-followed-by-singles format in 2001.

The second-seeded Gators (31-1) earned their fifth national team title, while ending top-seeded Stanford’s (28-1) NCAA-record 184 consecutive home-match win streak and its 47-match overall win streak. Stanford has not lost at home since Feb. 27, 1999 in a 5-4 loss to Cal and had not dropped a decision since a loss at UCLA on Feb. 26, 2010.

The title is the Florida athletics program 26th national team championship and second this season with the men’s track and field team winning the NCAA Indoor title.

Photo Gallery: UF Women’s Tennis vs. Stanford, NCAA Championship, 5/24/11 (click here to view gallery)

DIRECTORY OF GATOR COUNTRY PHOTO GALLERIES

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