Tennis DIVISION I WOMEN’S Highlights Florida grinds out title victory in rematch after fi ghting back from 3-1 defi cit: Florida’s Lauren Embree knew better than to try and hit with Stanford’s Mallory Burdette, so she just kept playing a steady volley game. Embree survived a grueling third-set tiebreaker to beat Burdette 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(6) and clinch the 2011 NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championship title for Florida May 24 at Stanford. Florida turned the tables on Stanford, after the Cardinal edged the Gators by an identical 4-3 score in the 2010 championship match. “Mallory hits the ball so hard I knew I couldn’t hit with her,” Embree said. “I had to grind it out. I just wanted to fi ght as long as I could.” “I had my game plan and I executed it pretty well for the most part,” Burdette said. “I’m proud of the way I played. It just came down to two points and I came up short.” Hilary Barte gave Stanford (28-1) its fi rst point at No. 1 singles, beating Allie Will 6-2, 6-4. Nicole Gibbs gave the Cardinal the lead 2-1 with a 6-4, 7-5 win against Sofi e Oyen at No. 3 singles. Stacey Tan recovered from a fi rst-set loss to beat Joanna Mather 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 at No. 4 singles and give Stanford a 3-1 edge, but Alex Cercone returned the favor at No. 5 singles, beating Veronica Li 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 as Florida (31-1) closed to within 3-2. Olivia Janowicz’s 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-1 win against Carolyn McVeigh at No. 6 singles tied it, setting the stage for the title-deciding Embree-Burdette match. Florida opened up the title contest by winning the doubles point with impressive play at all three positions, taking a 1-0 team lead. “That was the most electric atmosphere I have ever experienced in my college career,” Stanford coach Lele Forood said. “It was a great day. We just came up a little short.” Embree improved to 6-0 in tournament championship matches through her fi rst two years, and fi nished the year on a 24-match winning streak. “Lauren is one of those players you can depend on,” Cercone said. “You don’t want to put any pressure on anybody but when it came down to that match, I knew Lauren could pull it out. I know the heart she has and I’m just glad to be on the same team.” The Gators ended Stanford’s 184-match home winning streak, which spanned 12 years and included two victories against Florida in the NCAA tournament. “We knew it’s not going to keep going into infi nity,” Forood said. “We’ll just start over again. The streak doesn’t mean a whole lot to us. It’s interesting but it’s trivia.” The Gators also learned why winning at Stanford proved so hard. “We played at phenomenal levels to set the tone, but this match only proves how diffi cult it is to win here,” Florida coach Roland Thornqvist said. “I don’t know what it looked like on TV, but I can tell it felt like it took about 10 years off my life.” Embree, who went through two wrist surgeries since last year, played No. 1 singles last year for Florida while Will was at No. 2. “When it came down to Lauren, I knew we got the one we wanted at the end,” Thornqvist said. In the singles fi nal, top-seeded and No. 1-ranked California junior Jana Juricova became the second player from the school to win an NCAA singles crown, and did so at the same site as the last champion, Susie Babos in 2006. Juricova, who fi nished as the runner-up for the 2010 NCAA crown, defeated Tan 6-0, 7-6 May 30 to claim the crown. She completed her season with a 36-4 singles record. Though Tan served to open the match, Juricova’s returns forced each of Tan’s rallies to end in the net to take a 1-0 lead. Juricova promptly served an ace down the inside seam to cruise to a 2-0 advantage. Tan couldn’t hold serve in the third game, as Juricova picked her apart to go up three games to love. Tan pushed Juricova to a break point with a 30-40 lead, but couldn’t hold on as Juricova served another ace to save the game and take a 4-0 lead in the fi rst set. Tan’s serve helped her take a 30-love lead in the fi fth game, but Juricova battled back to take break point. Tan earned deuce, but Juricova put a forehand shot out of Tan’s reach to take the advantage, before she closed out the game for a 5-0 lead on a cross-court backhand. Up three breaks, Juricova let her serve loose to fi nish off a 6-0 fi rst-set win with two consecutive service aces. After fi ghting off a couple of break points, Tan stepped in to close out the fi rst game of the second set, but Juricova replied to hold and tie the set, one-all. Tan built a 40-love lead in the third game and held off a comeback by Juricova to go up, 2-1. Juricova didn’t waste any time as she went up 40-love in game four, but Tan fi red back to force deuce. Refocused, Juricova overpowered Tan with a pair of serves to tie the set at two. In a pivotal fi fth game, Tan served six faults, including four straight, to break her own serve and surrender a 3-2 lead to Juricova. Unfortunately, Juricova’s serve gave the game back before Tan held to take a 4-3 lead. Juricova used her serve to push the set back into a tie at four-all, but Tan controlled things in a baseline rally to go up, 5-4. Juricova overcame the defi cit once more to tie the set at fi ve-all when Tan put a ball into the net. Tan came up with a 30-15 lead in the 11th game, but a pair of errors allowed Juricova to earn break point. A long rally gave way to a long ball by Tan to seal a 6-5 lead in the set for Juricova. Tan would not go quietly as she stood her ground to break back against Juricova and force a tiebreaker. In the extra stanza, Juricova came alive as she raced to a 5-0 lead. Tan won the next two points, but Juricova put a stop to things when Tan wasn’t able to return one of Juricova’s baseline backhand shots. Recovering from Stanford’s loss in the team championship, Barte and Burdette did walk off their home court as national champions, defeating Clemson’s Josipa Bek and Keri Wong 7-6(6), 6-0 to claim the doubles title. Stanford has now produced the last two NCAA champion doubles teams, following 2010’s victory by Barte and Lindsay Burdette. Barte, a four-time All-American in both singles and doubles, concluded her career with back-to-back doubles titles while Burdette collected her fi rst career trophy to join older sisters Lindsay and Erin (2005 cham- pion with Alice Barnes) as national champions. 2 DIVISION I WOMEN’S TENNIS—2011 TEAM RESULTS South Carolina 4, Arizona 2 QUARTERFINALS 2011 Team Results Florida 4, South Carolina St. 0 May 22 at Stanford Stanford 4, Georgia 0 SECOND ROUND Baylor 4, North Carolina 3 FIRST ROUND May 14-15 UCLA 4, Duke 2 May 13-14 Stanford 4, Pepperdine 0 Florida 4, Miami (FL) 1 Stanford 4, Ill.-Chicago 0 Northwestern 4, Notre Dame 0 Pepperdine 4, Long Beach St. 2 Georgia 4, Alabama 0 SEMIFINALS Northwestern 4, IPFW 0 California 4, Southern California 1 May 23 at Stanford Notre Dame 4, Fresno St. 0 North Carolina 4, Washington 1 Stanford 4, Baylor 1 Georgia 4, Marist 0 Vanderbilt 4, Tennessee 3 Florida 4, UCLA 0 Alabama 4, Utah 0 Baylor 4, Oklahoma 0 California 4, Boston U. 0 SMU 4, Florida St. 3 CHAMPIONSHIP Southern California 4, St. Mary’s (CA) 1 Virginia 4, North Carolina St. 2 May 24 at Stanford North Carolina 4, East Tenn. St. 0 UCLA 4, San Diego 0 Washington 4, Maryland 0 Florida 4, Stanford 3 Georgia Tech 4, Arizona St. 1 Doubles: No. 1—Alexandra Cercone-Allie Will, Florida, Tennessee 4, Col. of Charleston 1 Duke 4, Yale 0 Vanderbilt 4, Winthrop 0 led Hilary Barte-Mallory Burdette, Stanford, 6-3, unfin- Michigan 4, Tulsa 1 ished; No. 2—Lauren Embree-Sofie Oyen, Florida, Baylor 4, Texas-Arlington 0 Miami (FL) 4, Texas 1 def. Nicole Gibbs-Veronica Li, Stanford, 8-3; No. 3— Oklahoma 4, Cal Poly 0 Clemson 4, Arkansas 2 Caroline Hitimana-Joanna Mather, Florida, def. Carolyn Florida St. 4, Southern U. 0 Florida 4, South Carolina 0 McVeigh-Stacey Tan, Stanford, 8-3. SMU 4, Texas A&M 3 Singles: No. 1—Barte, Stanford, def. Will, Florida, 6-2, North Carolina St. 4, VCU 0 ROUND OF 16 6-4; No. 2—Embree, Florida, def. Burdette, Stanford, Virginia 4, Army 0 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(6); No. 3—Gibbs, Stanford, def. Oyen, San Diego 4, UNLV 2 May 20 at Stanford Florida, 6-4, 7-5; No.