Tennis DIVISION I WOMEN’S Highlights Florida wins back-to-back titles; sweeps UCLA to capture national championship: For the second consecutive year, Florida junior Lauren Embree was involved in the clinching decision in the NCAA Division I Women’s Tennis Championships fi nal. Embree defeated UCLA’s McCall Jones, 6-4, 6-0, in the deciding match and helped the Gators defeat the top-seeded Bruins, 4-0, May 22 at Georgia’s Dan Magill Tennis Complex. While the 2012 national title match wasn’t as drama-fi lled as Florida’s 2011 championship bout when Embree rallied from a 4-0 third-set defi cit to complete the win over top-seeded Stanford, 4-3, on the Cardinal’s home court, the Gators relied on their doubles prowess to grab the early lead and were able to fi nish off the Bruins with impressive play in singles. Florida captured the important doubles point as the top-ranked team of Sofi e Oyen and Allie Will ripped off the fi rst six games of the eight-game pro-set en route to an 8-2 victory against sixth-ranked Robin Anderson and Skylar Morton. The Gators’ Alexandra Cercone and Caroline Hitimana then provided the clinching doubles-point victory with an 8-5 decision against Jones and Carling Seguso. Cercone was the fi rst to fi nish her singles match, posting a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 5 against Chanelle Van Nguyen in just more than an hour, giving Florida a 2-0 lead. The Gator sophomore won the fi nal nine games of the match. Oyen fi nished just after Cercone, earning a 6-3, 6-2 win against Morton in the No. 4 singles contest, putting the Gators up 3-0. The sopho- more dropped a pair of service breaks and fell behind 3-0 in the fi rst set, before beginning her comeback. She battled back and won fi ve straight games to take the fi rst set. Oyen and Morton traded service breaks early in the second set, before Oyen broke in the fi fth game and held for a 4-2 lead. She then battled from triple game-point to earn yet another break and served out the eighth game with an ace. Embree, playing at No. 2, used an early break in the third game of the fi rst set to take a 2-1 lead. The pair then each held serve the rest of the set. Embree broke Jones at love to open the second set. She used the momentum to sweep the set, giving the Gators the title. Florida joined Stanford as the only teams in Division I women’s tennis history to earn back-to-back championships. The title was the sixth overall for the Gators, who also won championships in 1992, 1996, 1998, 2003 and 2011, and the third for coach Roland Thornqvist. Stanford sophomore Nicole Gibbs edged junior teammate Mallory Burdette 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in an all-Stanford singles fi nal May 28. Rally- ing back after a fi rst-set loss and shaking off defi cits of 4-1 and 5-2 in the second set, Gibbs is the fi rst Stanford champion since Amber Liu earned titles in 2003 and 2004. Gibbs ripped off three consecutive games to even the second set at 4-4 and actually led 6-5 before Burdette broke Gibbs for a 6-6 tie. In the second-set tiebreaker, Gibbs raced out to a 2-0 lead before Burdette won fi ve points in a row. Gibbs then countered with fi ve consecu- tive points and closed out the set. After alternating holds on service games early in the third set, Gibbs owned a 3-2 advantage. She moved ahead, 5-2, before Burdette held to cut the defi cit to 5-3 before Gibbs eventually closed out the match. Later that same day, Gibbs and Burdette shook off fatigue from their singles encounter to claim the doubles title with a 6-2, 6-4 victory against Georgia’s Nadja Gilchrist and Chelsey Gullickson. Gibbs became only the second Stanford player to claim NCAA singles and doubles championships in the same season, with Linda Gates also pulling off the feat in 1985. Burdette added a second NCAA doubles title to her resume, after teaming with Hilary Barte to win in 2011. Stanford has won the last three NCAA doubles championships, with Barte and Lindsay Burdette also claiming the crown in 2010. It was the 13th singles title and eighth doubles title for the Cardinal, most in either category for any women’s team across all three divisions in NCAA tournament history. 2 DIVISION I WOMEN’S TENNIS—2012 TEAM RESULTS Washington St. 4, Florida St. 3 QUARTERFINALS 2012 Team Results Florida 4, South Carolina St. 0 May 19 at Georgia UCLA 4, California 1 SECOND ROUND Southern California 4, Stanford 2 FIRST ROUND May 12 Duke 4, Georgia 2 May 11 UCLA 4, Long Beach St. 0 Florida 4, Miami (FL) 0 UCLA 4, Eastern Ky. 0 Rice 4, Ole Miss 2 Long Beach St. 4, Arkansas 0 California 4, Pepperdine 0 SEMIFINALS Rice 4, Illinois 3 Georgia Tech 4, Alabama 3 May 21 at Georgia Ole Miss 4, Southern U. 0 Southern California 4, Vanderbilt 1 UCLA 4, Southern California 3 California 4, Sacramento St. 0 Florida 4, Duke 3 Pepperdine 4, Purdue 0 Baylor 4, Tulsa 0 Georgia Tech 4, Oklahoma St. 1 Northwestern 4, Notre Dame 2 CHAMPIONSHIP Stanford 4, Yale 0 Alabama 4, Army 0 May 22 at Georgia Southern California 4, Fairfield 0 Duke 4, South Carolina 0 Vanderbilt 4, San Diego 1 Virginia 4, Tennessee 1 Florida 4, UCLA 0 Tulsa 4, Stephen F. Austin 0 Texas 4, Nebraska 2 Doubles: No. 1—Sofie Oyen-Allie Will, Florida, def. Baylor 4, Oral Roberts 0 Georgia 4, Clemson 3 Robin Anderson-Skylar Morton, UCLA, 8-2; No. 2— Lauren Embree-Joanna Mather, Florida, vs, Courtney Northwestern 4, Akron 0 North Carolina 4, Arizona 2 Dolehide-Pamela Montez, UCLA, 6-5, unfinished; No. Notre Dame 4, Hawaii 0 Miami (FL) 4, Utah 0 3—Alexandra Cercone-Caroline Hitimana, Florida, def. Yale 4, St. Mary’s (CA) 0 Michigan 4, Texas A&M 3 McCall Jones-Carling Seguso, UCLA, 8-5. Stanford 4, Stony Brook 0 Florida 6, Washington St. 0 Singles: No. 1—Anderson, UCLA, vs. Will, Florida, 6-4, Duke 4, Winthrop 0 5-2, unfinished; No. 2—Embree, Florida, def. Jones, South Carolina 4, TCU 1 ROUND OF 16 UCLA, 6-4, 6-0; No. 3—Mather, Florida, vs. Montez, Tennessee 4, VCU 0 UCLA, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0, unfinished; No. 4—Oyen, Florida, Virginia 4, Fairleigh Dickinson 0 May 17 at Georgia def. Morton, UCLA, 6-3, 6-2; No. 5—Cercone, Florida, Texas 4, Wichita St. 0 UCLA 4, Rice 0 def. Chanelle Van Nguyen, UCLA, 6-2, 6-0; No. 6— Nebraska 4, North Texas 0 California 4, Georgia Tech 0 Seguso, UCLA, vs. Olivia Janowicz, Florida, 7-6 (6), 2-5, Clemson 4, Arizona St. 0 Southern California 4, Baylor 1 unfinished. Georgia 4, Col. of Charleston 0 Stanford 4, Northwestern 1 North Carolina 4, Richmond 0 Duke 4, Virginia 1 Arizona 4, Minnesota 1 Georgia 4, Texas 0 Utah 4, Texas Tech 3 Miami (FL) 4, North Carolina 2 Miami (FL) 4, North Florida 0 Florida 4, Michigan 0 Michigan 4, Ill.-Chicago 0 Texas A&M 4, LSU 1 Maryland, def. Nazari Urbina, Texas A&M, 7-6(3), 6-0; Championship – May 28 2012 Individual Results Lauren Embree, Florida, def. Anastasia Erofeeva, Tulsa, Gibbs, Stanford, def. Burdette, Stanford, 2-6, 7-6(5), 6-3. 6-0, 6-3; Lindsey Hardenbergh, Virginia, def. Anett Schutting, California, 6-1, 6-4; Beatrice Capra, Duke, DOUBLES SINGLES def. Jackie Wu, Vanderbilt, 6-2, 6-2. At Georgia At Georgia Second Round – May 24 First Round – May 24 First Round – May 23 Will, Florida, def. Lao, Southern California, 6-4, 6-4; Ema Burgic-Nina Secerbegovic, Baylor, def. Allie Allie Will, Florida, def. Shannon Mathews, Notre Dame, Tere-Apisah, Georgia St., def. Szekely, Tennessee, 6-3, Will-Sofie Oyen, Florida 7-5, 6-2; Alexa Guarachi- 7-6(5), 6-3; Danielle Lao, Southern California, def. Keri 6-4; Sanchez-Quintanar, Texas A&M, def. Kissell, North Courtney McLane, Alabama, def. Maria Belaya-Jeltje Wong, Clemson, 6-3, 6-1; Kata Szekely, Tennessee, def. Carolina St., 6-2, 6-0; Niedermayerova, Kansas St., Loomans, William & Mary 7-6(2), 6-3; Kristy Frilling- Emina Bektas, Michigan, 6-4, 7-5; Abigail Tere-Apisah, def. Nakic, Baylor, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2; Gibbs, Stanford, def. Shannon Mathews, Notre Dame, def. Stacey Tan-Ellen Georgia St., def. Katie Le, Santa Clara, 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-0; Mather, Florida, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3; Pluskota, Tennessee, def. Tsay, Stanford, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(5); Courtney Dolehide- Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar, Texas A&M, def. Alexa Smyth, Arizona, 5-7, 6-1, 7-5; Juricova, California, def. Pamela Montez, UCLA, def. Samantha Adams-Kenna Guarachi, Alabama, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6(3); Joelle Kissell, North Novakova, Baylor, 6-4, 6-1; Ellis, Texas, def. Morgina, Kilgo, Texas Tech, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3; Emina Bektas-Brooke Carolina St., def. Tayler Davis, California, 7-5, 6-1; Diana South Carolina, 3-6, 7-6(9), 6-0; Secerbegovic, Baylor, Bolender, Michigan, def. Kaitlyn Christian-Sabrina Nakic, Baylor, def. Gabriela Mejia, Miami (FL), 6-2, def.