University of Florida juniors Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) and Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) had a strong start to their collegiate singles season on Thursday. Both earned spots in the round of 16 at the Riviera/ITA All-American Tennis Championships held at the Riviera Tennis Club.
Embree, the fifth-ranked player in the country, was dominant in her 6-0, 6-3 victory against Boston College’s Katarina Galic. She will take on Kansas State’s Petra Nidermayerova in the next round.
Will, ranked second in the country, beat Baylor’s 23rd-ranked Nina Secerbegovic 6-3, 6-3. Will faces a Southeastern Conference foe in Ole Miss’ 22nd-ranked Kristi Boxx.
Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.), after battling her way into the main draw, had a heartbreaking 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 loss against Arizona State’s 11th-ranked Jacqueline Cako. Mather will now move into the consolation draw for singles play.
“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 teamed up in the 24-team doubles play but lost to Harvard’s Kristin Norton and Hideko Tachibana. The Gator duo will play consolation doubles 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.
No. 4 seed Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) and Will had a first-round bye in doubles play and will start play on Friday.
2011 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships
Riviera Tennis Club
Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Thursday, October 06, 2011
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
Gator Country reporter Sara Ladwig can be reached at sladwig@gatorcountry.com