During Tuesday's national championship matches, the Gators must have thought they were seeing double.
Florida won its fifth national championship in a thrilling 4-3 comeback victory against Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif., and handed the Cardinal their first loss of the season and first home loss since 1999 — ending their 184-match home winning streak.
But the rematch of last year's final had frightening similarities to Florida's heartbreaking 4-3 loss to Stanford in 2010, and both coach Roland Thornqvist and star sophomore Lauren Embree experienced a bit of deja vu.
"I don't know what it looked like on TV or in the stands, but that took about 10 years off my life," said Thornqvist, who won his second national title at UF.
Just like last year, Florida took the doubles point in convincing fashion before watching Stanford stage a roaring rally to take the overall lead. With the Gators down 3-1, and Embree down 4-0 in her third set, it seemed the Cardinal was primed for a repeat.
But UF mounted a run of its own, with freshmen Alex Cercone and Olivia Janowicz winning two crucial singles matches to tie the finals at three apiece.
And for the second consecutive year, Florida found itself fighting Stanford's sophomore standout Mallory Burdette with the championship on the line. But this time, the Gators had Embree playing last.
"We had the player we wanted in the end," Thornqvist said.
"Lauren is one of the players who you can always depend on," Cercone said. "Sometimes you don't want to depend on a player and put pressure on anybody, but it came down to that today."
Burdette, the hero of Stanfordís win in 2010, had every opportunity to down Embree and claim the title for the Cardinal.
She took a dominant lead in the third set, but Embree fought back, displaying the resiliency that was the theme of Florida's run through the NCAA Tournament this season. Embree took the momentum and a 5-4 lead before Burdette tied the match at six, forcing a tiebreaker with everything on the line.
The two traded runs, but, with the tiebreaker knotted up at six, Burdette faltered. The sophomore had an easy slam shot to take a crucial 7-6 lead, but almost whiffed at the ball and sent it into the net. Embree then claimed the last point to win the tiebreaker, and the national championship, for the Gators.
"That was the gutsiest performance I think I've ever seen," Thornqvist said. "She was down 4-0 in the final set with 2,000 people in the stands, and obviously it was a very partisan crowd."
"It was so up and down," Embree said. "I wanted to fight as long as I could, and I came out with the win. ... I knew I still had a chance no matter what the score was."
Thornqvist said after the match that while he and his staff didn't mention last year's final to their team, he knew it was fresh in the minds of the three players that experienced it.
But this time the Gators return to Gainesville with a ring thanks to Embree's remarkable comeback.
"I am proud Lauren got to be a big part about winning our championship," Thornqvist said. "She was disappointed after last year, so maybe this ring will help ease it a little. ... To be able to do it here at Stanford in front of 2,000 hostile fans with probably the hardest-working team Iíve ever had is very, very rewarding."
