The University of Florida women’s tennis team will have the opportunity to win four titles at the Riviera/ITA All-American Tennis Championships at the Riviera Tennis club. The Gators’ Allie Will can win the singles championship and the doubles title can go to the duo of Will and Sofie Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belguim).
Gators’ senior Joanna Mather (Duluth, Ga.) will compete for the consolation singles title. Mather and Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) will play to claim the consolation double championship.
The four Gators won six matches altogether on Saturday. The doubles teams needed to go two rounds to advance to the finals.
“It was a championship-type showing by everyone today,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We played fantastic tennis. We were efficient, tough, physical and smart. It was like all the superlatives you could possibly think of—we were today. It was exciting to be a part of.”
Will could be the first Gator since Jessica Lehnoff in 2001, and fifth overall, to win the ITA All-American Championship singles and doubles title.
Will defeated UCLA’s Robin Anderson 6-4, 6-1 in the main draw’s semifinal match. The Gator junior will face-off against Arizona State’s 11th-ranked Jacqueline Cako for the title on Sunday at 11 a.m. PST.
“Allie is playing at a very high level. She was very physical against a nice young talent in Robin Anderson from UCLA. She was too physical today and that was the difference. Same with Joanna, she was incredibly physical in her play. She is as fast as lightning,” Thornqvist said. “Both of them are holding onto the ball very, very well so it will take somebody who gets consistent, good shots to beat them and it’s just not that easy to do over a two, two-and-half hour time period.”
In the semifinals of singles consolation play, Mather defeated Miami’s Anna Bartenstein 6-4, 6-0. Mather will square off against Stanford’s 17th ranked Mallory Burdette on Sunday at 9:30 PST.
In doubles play, Oyen and Will shutout Kansas’ Ekaterina Morozova and Dylan Windom 8-0 and then proceeded to defeat Northwestern’s third-ranked duo of Nida Hamilton and Linda Abu Mushrefova. Next up for the Gators pair will be Stanford’s Mallory Burdett and Nicole Gibbs, on Sunday at about noon PST.
The twelfth-ranked duo of Embree and Mather pulled the upset against Georgia Tech’s sixth-ranked combo of Caroline Lilley and Jillian O’Neil by winning 8-2. The Gator duo went on to defeat Ole Miss’ Kristie Boxx and Abby Guthrie 8-3 to advance to the championship, where they will take on Virginia’s ninth-ranked Lindsey Hardenbergh and Erin Vierra at 8 a.m. PST.
“Both doubles teams looked excellent,” Thornqvist said. “Sofie has not played a lot because her shoulder has been hurt, but she’s playing at a very high level. Allie and Sofie haven’t played together in a while and it’s almost like they haven’t done anything else except play together. Their play during the first 20 minutes of the first match of the tournament was so-so, but ever since that they’ve played high-level tennis.
“Jo and Lauren were the same way. They started a little rusty in their first match but today they looked like they could beat just about anybody. I was very pleased overall today,” Thornqvist said.
2011 Riviera/ITA All-American Championships
Riviera Tennis Club
Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Saturday, October 08, 2011
Singles, Fourth Round (Semifinals)
(2) Allie Will (UF) d. Robin Anderson (UCLA), 6-4, 6-1
Doubles, Fourth Round (Semifinals)
(4) Sofie Oyen/Allie Will (UF) d. (3) Hamilton/Mushrefova (Northwestern), 8-3
Doubles, Third Round (Quarterfinals)
(4) Sofie Oyen/Allie Will (UF) d. (33) Morozova/Windom (Kansas), 8-0
Consolation Singles, Fourth Round (Semifinals)
(26) Joanna Mather (UF) d. (25) Anna Bartenstein (Miami), 6-4, 6-0
Consolation Doubles, Third Round (Semifinals)
(12) Lauren Embree/Joanna Mather (UF) d. (19) Boxx/Guthrie (Ole Miss), 8-3
Consolation Doubles, Second Round (Quarterfinals)
(12) Lauren Embree/Joanna Mather (UF) d. (6) Lilley/O’Neill (Georgia Tech), 8-2
Gator Country reporter Sara Ladwig can be reached at sladwig@gatorcountry.com