FLUSHING, N.Y. – Florida freshman Sofie Oyen and sophomore Allie Will continued their doubles run at the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships by earning a spot in Sunday’s championship after scoring another upset victory at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The 18th-ranked doubles team defeated Alabama’s second-ranked team of Alexa Guarachi and Courtney McLane, 6-3, 7-6 (6), to reach the title match at 9 a.m. Sunday. Oyen and Will take on Clemson’s fifth-ranked team of Josipa Bek and Keri Wong.
“I thought we played great doubles,” Florida coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We really didn’t give Alabama a chance in the first set. Sofie had some blistering returns and pressured them every time they served. In the second set, we had two set points against us, but were able to fight off both with offensive put-aways. I think we’re playing at a very high level.”
Oyen and Will have won their last 10 matches together and will take a 10-1 record into Sunday’s match against the Clemson duo which handed them their only loss of the season. Bek and Wong captured an 8-6 decision in the first round of the Riviera/ITA All-American Championships on Oct. 7.
Oyen and Will are aiming to become the third different Gator tandem to win the USTA-ITA National Indoor Championships doubles title, looking to join the teams of Nicole Arendt and Jillian Alexander, which won the 1991 crown, and Dawn Buth and Stephanie NIckitas, which captured the 1996 championship.
Will attempted to also reach the singles final, but fell short on Saturday, when she dropped a hard-fought 7-5, 4-6, 6-0 decision to Southern California’s third-ranked Maria Sanchez in the semifinals.
“Allie played very well and ran out of gas a little bit, but that’s not taking anything away from Maria, who played exceptional tennis,” Thornqvist continued. “She put the pressure on us the entire match. Allie played a lot of long matches here and I think they got to her legs a little. She wasn’t able to return some of those pressuring backhands from Maria in the third set. I’m very proud of Allie’s effort. She has improved a lot. Her indoor tennis is a lot better than it was last year and it’s because of all her work with her backhand, which has improved so much. She’s disappointed now, but still will have a chance to take home a championship in doubles.”
This is the final event of the fall tennis season.