Danielle Collins played with momentum on Sunday.
The freshman smacked a ball to the side of Lien Van Geel’s court to end her singles match 6-3 and clinch a 4-0 Florida victory against Mississippi State on Sunday at Linder Stadium.
Collins said starting strong made the difference.
She came out in the first set, dominating the rhythm of play. The freshman only dropped one game to Van Geel, a trip up at the net. She held the lead and grabbed the easy 6-1 win in the first.
Coach Roland Thornqvist said Collins’ confidence is growing and its apparent each time she comes out on the court.
Florida honored seniors Lauren Embree and Caroline Hitimana for the team’s senior day.
Despite both players’ success on the court during the past four years, the seniors were not in top form after being honored.
Embree came out fast in her first set in singles, dominating the court. But the senior lost focus and her opponent, Georgiana Patrasc took advantage of it.
“[Patrasc] started attacking my short balls and putting away balls to make it tougher for me,” Embree said.
Pastrasc wore Embree down in the first three games of the second set and grabbed two more games for a two-point lead. Embree battled back and closed the gap to 5-4, but Patrasc won the sixth point and forced a third set. The set went unfinished due to Collins’ clincher.
“Maybe it was the emotion of being a senior, and that could cloud your mind for sure,” Thornqvist said. “[Embree] learned a little bit of a lesson. With SECs and NCAAs coming up, you have to take care of your own business on the court.”
Hitimana came out slow in her first set, but fought up court to grab a win at 6-4. She led the second set 3-1 before it went unfinished.
“I was hoping that both our seniors would be able to finish today, but we came away with a team win and that’s more important than anything,” Thornqvist said.
Despite Embree and Hitimana’s struggles, Olivia Janowicz and Alex Cercone grabbed the first singles wins, giving the Gators a 3-0 lead.
Sofie Oyen’s match went unfinished in the third set.
Doubles provided a quick victory against the Bulldogs.
Cercone and Hitimana shut out Patrasc and Roseline Dion 8-0.
The Bulldogs pairing tripped up on serves and gave the Gators easy final two games to win it all.
Embree and Oyen grabbed the doubles point in an uncontested last game, when Tran hit the ball out in the Gators’ left corner.
Thornqvist said the team is in a good place heading into its final two regular season matches.
“I think our form is like a good stock chart,” Thornqvist said. “From bottom-left to top-right, that’s what you try to do as the year evolves. We’re playing more consistent and that’s what it takes if we want to realize our dreams.”
Senior Lauren Embree returns a ball during Florida’s 4-1 win against Georgia on March 15. Embree lost to Stanford's Nicole Gibbs 6-0, 6-1 as the Cardinal defeated the Gators 4-3 to advance to the NCAA title match.
