After suffering a rough loss in the semifinals Monday, three Gators continued their losing streak at a rain-delayed NCAA Singles Championship.
Senior Lauren Embree, and juniors Sofie Oyen and Alex Cercone competed in the first round of the Singles Championship Wednesday for a chance to redeem themselves on the court after all three lost their singles matches on Monday.
No. 17 Oyen was the first to compete, playing against TCU’s No. 44 Stefanie Tan, but the match ended in an upset.
Tan had the edge over Oyen in the match, defeating her in two sets 6-3, 6-4.
Embree was still the top-ranked player going into the singles championship, but it didn't appear that way on the court.
The senior faced Arizona State's No. 21 Jacqueline Cako and fell behind quickly in the first set.
Cako picked up games early and never backed down, winning the set at 6-3.
Embree came out tougher in the second set, rallying back from a two-point deficit to tie up the set at 2-2.
Cako snapped the tie in the next game, taking an easy 3-2 lead over Embree.
Looking to tie the score up again, Embree found herself at deuce with Cako. The ASU player tripped Embree up in the corner to bring it to match point when it began to rain.
The match was delayed as the two moved indoors to finish it out, but even with the break, Embree still couldn’t come back.
She lost to Cako 6-2 in the second.
This is the fourth time Embree has earned a draw into the singles championship, and it is the first time she hasn’t made it to the Round of 16 or further.
Finally, Alex Cercone trailed early in her match against UNLV’s Lucia Batta.
Cercone edged out Batta in three games, but Batta held a lead over the Gator to win the first set 6-3.
Once the second set began, Cercone worked hard to compete against Batta’s momentum.
The two tied back and forth until they tied at 6-6, forcing a 10-point tiebreaker.
Cercone edged out Batta for the final point and won the set 7-6 when Batta hit the ball into the net.
However, Cercone couldn’t keep up her second-set momentum in the third and lost the final set to Batta 6-4.
With Florida out of the singles championship, only two Gators remain in competition. Embree and Oyen will be the only Florida pairing to compete in the doubles championship today. The 11th-ranked pairing faces Stanford’s No. 28 pairing Stacey Tan and Ellen Tsay in the first round.
The Florida pairing holds a 17-5 doubles record this season, and this will be the first time
Embree and Oyen face the Tan-and-Tsay pairing in doubles.
The Gators previously lost doubles matches to Stanford’s Nicole Gibbs and Kristie Ahn in the semifinals matchup and in the regular season when the Cardinal came to Gainesville on February 24.
Embree and Oyen’s doubles match begins Thursday afternoon.
Junior Alexandra Cercone swings during Florida’s 7-0 victory against Baylor on Feb. 2 at Linder Stadium.
