History shows that when Florida and Stanford meet, Stanford wins.
History repeated itself on Monday.
The 12th-ranked Cardinal upset the No. 1 Gators 4-3 in an intense match on Monday.
Florida tied up the match at 3 after junior Olivia Janowicz edged out Ellen Tsay 6-4 in the third set.
Then it came down to Alex Cercone.
Cercone was in a constant battle against Krista Hardeback in the second set, tying at 5-5, then 6-6 to force a 10-point tiebreak.
Hardeback started out strong and grabbed the first two points. Cercone came back, but lost her momentum as Hardeback won 7-6 to force a third set.
Hardeback worked Cercone all over the court, making her run while holding serve advantage and contesting every high ball Cercone hit her way.
The two were at a 3-3 tie as Hardeback hit the net to give Cercone the game point. However, it didn’t take long for the Cardinal to break Cercone down with hard hits to the backcourt and corners.
Once Hardeback got into a rhythm, Cercone couldn’t make up the difference and lost 3-6 to end Florida’s chance at a third consecutive national title.
Cercone had previously won her singles match against Hardeback, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, on Feb. 24 at the Ring Tennis Complex.
Cercone wasn’t the only Gator to struggle in Monday’s semifinal matchup.
Top-ranked Lauren Embree lost a lopsided singles match to No. 13 Nicole Gibbs.
Gibbs overpowered Embree to win 6-0, 6-1.
Sofie Oyen also crumbled in her singles match. The junior trailed Kristie Ahn in the first set, losing it 1-6.
Oyen tried to come back with some looks in the second, pressuring Ahn on the sides, but dropped the final two games to give Ahn a 6-4 win and up Stanford’s lead to 3-0.
However, freshman Brianna Morgan came out ready for the competition, facing Stacey Tan for the second time this season. Morgan defeated Tan in the regular season, and Morgan repeated her success with a 6-1, 6-3 win.
Morgan gave Florida its first point of the match.
Senior Caroline Hitimana provided the second point for the Gators, coming back from a 1-6 loss in the first set to dominate Ellen Tsay 6-1, 6-0 in fast second and third sets.
Stanford got an early lead on Florida in doubles, which gave the Cardinal the momentum.
After four consecutive doubles wins in the NCAA Tournament, the Gators fell behind on two courts to drop the point.
The 11th-ranked pairing of Embree and Oyen tried to keep up against the eighth-ranked Stanford duo of Ahn and Gibbs, but Embree and Oyen took the 3-8 loss.
Cercone and Hitimana followed suit, losing 3-8 to Tan and Tsay.
The Cardinal now leads the Gators 10-3 in NCAA Tournaments and 18-13 in the all-time series.
Stanford will face Texas A&M in the NCAA title match today at 6.
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.
