FLUSHING, N.Y. – Florida’s Allie Will advanced to the semifinals of the singles and doubles draws of the USTA/ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Will and freshman Sofie Oyen began the day with a solid 8-2 victory over Tennessee’s Brynn Boren and Maria Sorbello on the doubles court. The Gator tandem plays Alabama’s second-ranked team of Alexa Guarachi and Courtney McLane Saturday at 9 a.m.
Will then turned her attention to the singles court where she rallied for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory against Northwestern’s sixth-ranked Maria Mosolova, before upsetting Stanford’s top-seeded and second-ranked Hilary Barte, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals.
Will is the first Gator to reach the semifinals in either draw of the National Indoor Championships since 2005, when Diana Srebrovic won the singles title of the national event.
“Allie played at a high level all day,” Florida coach Roland Thornqvist said. “She played her best tennis in the quarterfinal match. She had great focus and needed to come up with some great defense against Hilary, who likes to press forward. Allie had good depth, for the most part, and played with a lot of poise. She played like a champion.”
Will has won nine straight singles matches and faces Southern California’s third-ranked Maria Sanchez Saturday following doubles.
Florida freshman Alex Cercone dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to California’s top-ranked Jana Juricova in the round of 16. Cercone ends the fall season with an impressive 12-5 singles record, including a 7-2 record against nationally ranked opponents.
Freshman Olivia Janowicz fell to SMU’s 22nd-ranked Marta Lesniak, 6-2, 6-3, in the consolation round of 16.