Florida senior Lauren Embree snagged her 99th career singles match victory against Baylor on Saturday, but winning was no easy feat.
The fifth-ranked college tennis player in the country found trouble in No. 16 Ema Burgic.
Embree finished the first set without much trouble from Burgic, sealing the win with a break in the final game and a 6-4 score.
Burgic retaliated with increased pressure and aggression against Embree on the court in the second set.
The Bears’ sophomore held serve in the beginning, while Embree was caught in the receiving end of Burgic’s power, falling behind 5-2.
Though Burgic’s short hits and sharp spikes near the net gave Embree some trouble, the Gators senior came back to win four consecutive games and changed the score in her favor at 6-5.
"[Burgic] had a really good back hand and anything I gave her short there she kind of punished me and kept pushing me back," Embree said.
"The toughest thing for me was to try and stay up on the base line and not have her be so aggressive where I’m running so much."
However, Burgic still held serve advantage and matched up score to make game point.
The two players fought back and forth for the point, but Burgic held on her game-point opportunity to force a tiebreaker.
Embree led Burgic 4-1, but the Baylor player fought back to tie the score.
Burgic broke through for a 7-6 win, holding serve and forcing a third set.
"I don’t like to lose," Embree said.
The two battled in a 10-point match that would clinch the overall win, and Embree stepped up to the challenge.
But they went back and forth again.
Embree tallied three points, and Burgic followed suit. Embree gained serve advantage and put up a 7-4 difference.
Burgic rallied to close the gap, pulling within one point at 8-7.
"You would have thought the team score was tied at 3-3 with the level of intensity in that final match," coach Roland Thornqvist said.
Embree sealed the win with two powerful shots near the net, and clinched the seventh point for the team’s 7-0 victory.
"Anything can really happen when you just play 10 points," Embree said. "I just kept fighting out there, and [Burgic] stayed tough, too."
Thornqvist added: "You have to give Burgic a lot of credit, because there were four or five times when I thought she was going to go away and she found a way to battle back into the match."
In addition to grabbing her 99th win in singles on Saturday, Embree had a historic day in doubles.
Embree paired up with junior Sofie Oyen, and the two defeated Baylor’s Kiah Generette and Burgic 8-5 to give the senior her 100th career doubles victory.
The win also clinched the doubles point for the Gators.
"Lauren is just the best in the business when it comes to close matches at the end and today was no different," Thornqvist said.
"She has the heart of a warrior."
UF senior Lauren Embree returns a volley from Baylor sophomore Ema Burgic during the No. 1 Gators’ 7-0 win against the 15th-ranked Bears on Feb. 2. Embree has won four Southeastern Conference titles at Florida.
