Florida junior Sofie Oyen and freshman Danielle Collins traveled different roads to get to the qualifying round of the Riviera/ITA All-American Tournament in Pacific Palisades, Calif.
But both roads led to the round of 16 on Tuesday.
“It was a very good day for Danielle and Sofie,” associate head coach Dave Balogh said. “[They] were in some tight spots ... during their matches and really stepped up their games at the end.”
No. 32 Oyen cruised through her first match against No. 76 Samantha Adams of Texas Tech in two sets (6-2, 6-1) before winning her second match against No. 74 Alejandra Granillo of Pepperdine in three sets (2-6, 6-4, 6-4).
During her freshman year in 2010, Oyen reached the third round of qualifying for the Riviera before falling short in three sets (6-4, 0-6, 6-2) to NC State’s Sanaa Bhambri. Oyen was hoping to improve upon her rookie result as a sophomore, but she was defeated 6-3, 6-0 by then-No. 31 Brynn Boren of Tennessee.
So far in 2012, Oyen has started on the right foot with a perfect 6-0 record in singles matches. Collins had no prior tournament experience going into the Riviera.
She continued her success on Tuesday, defeating No. 77 Li Xi from Virginia 6-4, 6-0 and No. 62 Kate Fuller from Georgia 6-4, 6-4.
Collins is a perfect 8-0, including four wins against top-100 opponents.
The Gators have been competing in the Riviera/ITA All-American Tournament annually since 2001 but are yet to have a player reach the main draw by advancing through both the pre-qualifying and qualifying rounds. Collins has the opportunity to end that streak.
But she and Oyen have one more hill to climb before advancing to the final draw — a third match.
In the qualifying round of the ITA All-American Tournament, the players have to win three consecutive matches to move on to the final draw.
Carolina Hitimana, Olivia Janowicz and Alexandra Cercone all suffered opening-round defeats.
The third match for both players will be Wednesday.
Both of the Gators will be looking to join senior Lauren Embree in the final draw, which will take place Thursday through Sunday.
“Hopefully, we can get Danielle and Sofie to join Lauren in the main draw,” Balogh said. “They’ve been very focused and it will be exciting and tough tennis.”
Florida coach Roland Thornqvist (right) congratulates junior Sofie Oyen (left) and former Gator Allie Will (back) during a match against Duke on March 14, 2012.
