Third-seeded Florida faced No. 1 seed Georgia in the final match of the Southeastern Conference Tournament on Sunday, and the Gators swept the Bulldogs 4-0 to win their fourth consecutive conference title and their 19th overall.
After dropping the doubles point to Georgia in the regular season, Florida reversed its fortune and grabbed the doubles point this time around.
Freshmen Danielle Collins and Brianna Morgan grabbed an easy 8-3 win against Ayaka Okuno and Lilly Kimbell after Alex Cercone and Olivia Janowicz fell 8-0 on their court.
The doubles point rested on the shoulders of No.22 pairing Lauren Embree and Sofie Oyen in a tight match against the top-ranked team of Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia. The Gators tied with the Bulldogs and sent the match into a ten-point tiebreaker after evening the score 8-8. Embree and Oyen battled on the court, dropping only two points to Fuller and Garcia, breaking the tie to win at 9-8.
Singles proved to be as tough as doubles, with the singles lineups playing out long sets.
Morgan was the first off the court, defeating Fuller 6-3 in the first set and sweeping the second 6-0. Morgan’s win gave the Gators to a 2-0 lead.
Despite falling in doubles, Cercone fought hard in singles to up Florida’s lead.
Cercone played a close first set against Garcia, but pulled ahead to win two games and grab a 6-4 victory. Cercone continued her momentum in the second, ending her match with a 6-3 win.
Janowicz clinched match point for the Gators after playing through three lengthy sets.
She started out behind in the first set against Okuno, allowing the Bulldog to win out in two games for the 6-4 win. The junior came out focused in the second to win 6-2 and force a third set. After matching each other through the third, Janowicz came through in two games to win 6-4 and grab the title for Florida.
Embree met her match in singles against Lauren Herring, winning games back and forth to tie up the score. The two went into a ten-point tiebreaker after tying at 6-6. Embree hit hard and grabbed the 7-6 win. She was down 5-6 in the second when Janowicz grabbed the clincher.
Carolina Hitimana was down by one in her third set against Mia King and Oyen led by two against Maho Kowase in the second set.
Keeping the conference title for the fourth year in a row, the Gators return to Gainesville to begin training for the NCAA Championship that begins May 10.
Olivia Janowicz prepares to return a serve in a match against Duke in 2011.
