With two big wins in the books already, the No. 3 Gators are one match away from a Southeastern Conference trifecta.
Florida (20-1) vanquished Ole Miss (17-8) on Saturday 4-0 behind a fantastic clinching match in doubles play and three great wins in singles. UF will face No. 7 Georgia on Sunday for a chance to make it three straight overall SEC championships.
“I thought doubles was highly contested,” he said. We struggled to find form at one until the tiebreaker, where I thought we made some great decisions. We had great courage, and crossed at the right time, and that’s how they won the match. I thought we started off with very good singles because of that.”
The Rebels did not make it easy for the Gators, as two of the three doubles matches were closely contested. After the team of Lauren Embree and Joanna Mather won their match in dominant fashion, 8-1, the other two courts came down to the wire.
Alex Cercone and Olivia Janowicz managed to keep their match close, but the Mississippi team of Iris Verboven and Julia Jones pulled away at the end for an 8-6 victory. With the deciding match on court one, Florida’s Allie Will and Sofie Oyen forced a tiebreak.
The nation’s top-ranked doubles team ended up winning, securing the doubles point for the Gators. After that, Florida had full control of the match.
Embree was especially impressive. The junior had no problem defeating No. 9 Kristi Boxx in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0. It was one of her finest performances of the year, according to Thornqvist.
“In the last month, her game was really elevated and I’ve told her that many times,” he said. “It doesn’t surprise me. The courts were slow and that really played into her favor.”
Sunday’s championship match will begin at 1 p.m. Aside from a loss at Stanford, no team challenged the Gators more this year than the Bulldogs. Then ranked No. 5, Georgia lost to Florida 4-3 in Athens. It took a three-set victory from Embree to give the Gators the win. That match also marked the only time this season No. 1 Allie Will has lost in singles.
“I think we have to be professional, we have to be composed, we have to have great courage in doubles and cross,” Thornqvist said. “We have to be very disciplined in singles. That’s a great ball-striking team we play tomorrow, and on these slow courts, we’re going to have to be willing to play defense. I think we’re the more athletic team, and I think that’ll be the difference.”
