1 » Florida Gators senior right-handed pitcher Greg Larson became the ninth member of his team selected in the 2012 MLB Draft when he was chosen on Wednesday with the No. 631 overall pick in the 20th round by the Boston Red Sox. Larson is the third Florida thrower to be picked by Boston in the draft after the Red Sox chose junior lefty Brian Johnson with the No. 31 overall pick in the first round and junior righty Austin Maddox with the No. 118 overall pick in the third round. It is the second time in team history that Boston has picked three players from UF (1979).

2 » Former Gators linebacker Brandon Siler signed a one-year deal with the Kansas City Chiefs in 2011 with hopes of proving that he could be the full-time starter and deserved a multi-year contract. Unfortunately for Siler, he tore his Achilles and never stepped on the field for the team in a regular season game; fortunately Kansas City decided to give him a second chance and signed him to a one-year extension in January. “It’s been frustrating,” Siler told the team’s website following the Chiefs’ seventh organized team activity practice. “My momma brought it to my attention that I haven’t been out of football this long since I was seven years old and that kind of puts everything in perspective. Football is what I do. [...] It’s my job to go out there and do what I do, and I can’t do that right now, so I shouldn’t be talked about. I plan on getting back out there and showing what I can do. [...] I’m just going to keep working with the trainers and follow what they have me doing. I want to get back out there immediately, of course, but they have a plan for me and I’m just going to follow that.”

Read four more BITS (and watch a video interview)…after the break!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: Larson, Siler, Beal, Harvin, Mather

Tags: Austin Maddox, Boston Red Sox, Bradley Beal, Brandon Siler, Brian Johnson, combine, Draft, Joanna Mather, Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings, MLB, NBA, NFL, Percy Harvin, Roland Thornqvist, tennis, Thaddeus Bullard, Titus O'Neil, WWE

1 » Action continued in the 2012 NCAA Tournament on Saturday with Florida Gators women’s tennis fielding a singles competitor and doubles pairing.

No. 1 Allie Will (junior) def. No. 6 Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar (Texas A&M) – 6-3, 6-3

No. 10 Natalie Pluskota/Kata Szekely (Tennessee) def. No. 22 Lauren Embree/Joanna Mather (junior/senior) – 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(3)

Will’s victory advances her to the Final Four round of the 2012 NCAA Individual Championships on Sunday at noon where she will face No. 3 Nicole Gibbs (Stanford) whom she defeated 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 earlier this season in team competition. The winner will take on either No. 5 Mallory Burdette (Stanford) or No. 13 Zsofi Susanyi (California) in the national title game on Monday.

2 » Florida athletics lost a head coach for the second-straight day after women’s golf’s Jan Dowling resigned from her position on Saturday. “It truly has been an honor to coach at the University of Florida for the past three seasons, and I want to thank Mr. [Jeremy] Foley and the entire administration for this opportunity,” Dowling said in a school release. “I am very proud of what these young women have accomplished, and feel very fortunate to be involved with such a great athletic association. My decision was extremely difficult, however, I have to make the right choices for my personal life too. I will cherish my time at Florida, and wish nothing but the very best for the future of the program and the entire athletic association.”

The women’s golf program made steady progress in Dowling’s three seasons at Florida improving from 10th in the Southeastern Conference in 2010 to fourth in 2012. The Gators did not participate in the NCAA Championships in her first year at the helm but finished tied for 10th in 2011 and alone in 12th in 2012. Downling also recruited and coached the 2012 SEC Freshman of the Year in Camilla Hedberg. A statement from Foley indicates that Dowling’s decision was her own and that she was not relieved by the university. “I was surprised with Jan’s decision, but I respect her decision to do what is best for her. We wish her the best in whatever her future holds,” he said. Foley and Florida announced the resignation of head men’s tennis coach Andy Jackson on Friday in a move that, while titled a resignation, appeared to be at the behest of Foley.

Tags: Allie Will, Camilla Hedberg, Final Four, Freshman of the Year, golf, Jan Dowling, Jeremy Foley, Joanna Mather, Lauren Embree, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, SEC, tennis, University of Florida

1 » Action continued in the 2012 NCAA Tournament on Friday with Florida Gators women’s tennis fielding two singles competitors and one doubles pairing.

No. 1 Allie Will (junior) def. No. 37 Abigail Tere-Apisah (Georgia State) – 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 Beatrice Capra (Duke) def. No. 9 Lauren Embree (junior) – 6-1, 6-3

No. 22 Lauren Embree/Joanna Mather(senior) def. No. 5 Annie Goransson/Anett Schutting (California) – 3-6, 6-3, 6-3

Will and Embree/Mather advanced and will compete in the Elite Eight rounds of their respective individual championships on Saturday. The Florida women have won four singles and four doubles NCAA Individual Championships with the last ones coming in 1996 (Jill Craybas) and 2001 (Whitney Lalho/Lehnoff), respectively. The Gators remain the only program in the history of women’s collegiate tennis to sweep the team, singles and doubles titles in the same season, accomplishing that feat in 1996.

2 » The news was not as positive Friday (depending on your perspective) for the Gators men’s tennis team as, after 11 seasons running the program, head coach Andy Jackson announced his resignation. “I want to thank Jeremy Foley and the administration for the opportunity to lead this program for the last 11 years,” Jackson said in a school release. “I’m truly grateful for my time here and I hope to have the opportunity to coach again.” Jackson had success while at Florida, winning four Southeastern Conference Championships including two in the regular season (2003, 2005) and two in tournament play (2005, 2011). He also picked up the SEC Coach of the Year award in 2002 and 2005 and coached three SEC Players of the Year. However, the Gators did not find much success at the national level under Jackson, only advancing to the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament once (2005). “Moving forward, our vision is that the University of Florida men’s tennis program can consistently be among the contenders for the SEC and national championships, and we’ll work deliberately to find a candidate who matches this vision,” Foley said.

Tags: Allie Will, Andy Jackson, Coach of the Year, Elite Eight, Jeremy Foley, Joanna Mather, Lauren Embree, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, SEC, SEC Championship, tennis

Action continued in the 2012 NCAA Tournament on Thursday with the Florida Gators combining to field six singles competitors and three doubles teams.

Women
No. 1 Allie Will (junior) def. No. 19 Danielle Lao (USC) – 6-4, 6-4
No. 9 Lauren Embree (junior) def. No. 28 Cristina Stancu (Maryland) – 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 Nicole Gibs (Stanford) def. No. 21 Joanna Mather (senior) – 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
No. 26 Sabrina Santamaria (USC) def. No. 61 Sofie Oyen (sophomore) – 6-3, 6-0

No. 13 Burgic/Secerbegovic (Baylor) def. No. 1 Will/Oyen – 7-5, 6-2
No. 22 Embree/Mather def. No. 28 Abu Mushrefova/Hamilton (Northwestern) – 6-0, 6-1

Men
No. 50 Louis Cant (Miss. St.) def. No. 42 Bob van Overbeek (junior) – 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-1
No. 1 Steve Johnson (USC) def. No. 53 Nassim Slilam (senior) – 6-3, 6-2

No. 63 Baroz/Heugas (VCU) def. No. 14 Slilam/Billy Federhofer – 5-7, 7-5, 6-1

Two of four Gators women singles competitors and one of Florida’s doubles pairing advanced to the next round of the individual championships on Friday. All will be competing in the round of 16 as the doubles tournament began with just 32 teams.

The Florida women have won four singles and four doubles NCAA Individual Championships with the last ones coming in 1996 (Jill Craybas) and 2001 (Whitney Lalho/Lehnoff), respectively. The Gators remain the only program in the history of women’s collegiate tennis to sweep the team, singles and doubles titles in the same season, accomplishing that feat in 1996.

Tags: Allie Will, Billy Federhofer, Bob Van Overbeek, Joanna Mather, Lauren Embree, Nassim Slilam, NCAA, NCAA Championship, NCAA Tournament, Sofie Oyen, tennis

Seven Florida Gators tennis players competed in 2012 NCAA Tournament first round action on Wednesday, playing as individuals for the first time since January.

Women
No. 1 Allie Will (junior) def. No. 34 Shannon Mathews (Notre Dame) – 7-6(5), 6-3
No. 9 Lauren Embree (junior) def. No. 49 Anastasia Erofeeva (Tulsa) – 6-0, 6-3
No. 21 Joanna Mather (senior) def. No. 59 Hanna Mar (Duke) – 7-5, 6-4
No. 61 Sofie Oyen (sophomore) def. No. 44 Ecaterina Vasenina (USF) – 6-4, 6-2

Men
No. 42 Bob van Overbeek (junior) def. No. 8 Sebastian Fanselow (Pepp.) – 6-3, 6-4
No. 47 Luka Somen (Virginia Tech) def. No. 48 Tripper Carleton (junior) – 6-2, 6-0
No. 53 Nassim Slilam (senior) def. No. 118 Matija Pecotic (Princeton) – 6-4, 6-4

Six players advanced to second-round action in the 2012 NCAA Individual Championships on Thursday, which coincides with the first round of the doubles competition consisting of 32 teams.

No. 1 Will/Oyen and No. 22 Embree/Mather will both compete for the women, while No. 14 Slilam/junior Billy Federhofer will be the sole team in action on the men’s side.

The Florida women have won four singles and four doubles NCAA Individual Championships with the last ones coming in 1996 (Jill Craybas) and 2001 (Whitney Lalho/Lehnoff), respectively. The Gators men have won two NCAA singles titles (1999 – Jeff Morrison) and one doubles title (1993 – David Blair/Mark Merklein) in team history.

Tags: Allie Will, Billy Federhofer, Bob Van Overbeek, Joanna Mather, Lauren Embree, Nassim Slilam, NCAA, NCAA Championship, NCAA Tournament, Sofie Oyen, tennis, Tripper Carleton

No. 2 Florida Gators (27-1) women’s tennis became just the second program in the history of the sport to win back-to-back national championships, capturing the program’s second-straight title with a 4-0 sweep of the No. 1 UCLA Bruins (26-3) in the finals of the 2012 NCAA Tournament on Tuesday at Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, GA.

Florida ended their season on a 22-match winning streak, sweeping four of the five opponents they faced on their way to the program’s sixth national title. The Gators were playing for the NCAA Championship for the third-straight year (lost to Stanford in 2010) and 13th time in school history.

No. 1 junior Allie Will/sophomore Sofie Oyen wasted little time getting Florida on the board in doubles action, dominating No. 6 Robin Anderson/Skylar Morton from start to finish in an 8-2 win.

The Gators found themselves down early in the other two doubles matches with No. 22 junior Lauren Embree/senior Joanna Mather trailing No. 9 Pamela Montez/Courtney Dolehide and the team of sophomore Alex Cercone/junior Caroline Hitimana falling behind McCall Jones/Carling Seguso.

Florida slowly but surely fought their way back in both matches with Cercone/Hitimana eventually defeating Jones/Seguso 8-5 and Embree/Mather leading Montez/Dolehide 6-5 when the doubles point was clinched for the Gators to give UF an early 1-0 lead.

No. 79 Cercone had a much easier time in her singles match, quickly defeating No. 119 Chanelle Van Nguyen in straight sets (6-2, 6-0) to extend Florida’s lead to 2-0 with five matches still in action. No. 61 Oyen then registered a clean victory over No. 124 Morton, beating the freshman 6-3, 6-2 to pull the Gators within one match of the title.

It was No. 9 Embree who was once again tasked with closing out the national championship for Florida after winning the title in a grueling three-set tiebreaker one year ago. She did not waste much time doing just that, taking down No. 98 Jones 6-4, 6-0 to clinch the national championship for the Gators.

Following the match, Embree was awarded the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award for the second-straight year. She was also named to the All-Tournament team along with Cercone at the two and four spots for singles, respectively.

“It’s amazing. I still can’t really believe that just happened again that we went back-to-back. It’s just so exciting; I’m so proud of my teammates,” Embree said. “I said last year was a dream come true, but it’s a dream come true again. Our team has worked so hard, and I just feel like we played so well this week. I’m so proud of them.”

No. 1 Will trailed No. 4 Anderson 4-6, 2-5 at the time of completion. No. 21 Mather was slightly up on No. 73 Montez 3-6, 6-3, 1-0, and sophomore Olivia Janowicz was nearly even with Seguso 6-7, 5-2 when the title was clinched.

Florida women’s tennis’ victory Tuesday marks the school’s 28th overall national championship and 19th since athletic director Jeremy Foley took over. It was also head coach Roland Thornqvist‘s third national title since being hired in 2002.

Tags: Alex Cercone, All-Tournament, Allie Will, Caroline Hitimana, Joanna Mather, Lauren Embree, Magill Tennis Complex, Most Outstanding Player, NCAA, NCAA Championship, NCAA Tournament, Olivia Janowicz, Sofie Oyen, tennis, UCLA Bruins

No. 2 Florida Gators women’s tennis will play for the national championship for the third-straight year after defeating the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils in the Final Four of the 2012 NCAA Tournament at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, GA.

Florida (26-1) extended their winning streak to 21 matches in their 4-3 defeat of Duke (29-3), advancing to the finals of the tournament for the third year in a row and receiving an opportunity to defend their 2011 national title. The Blue Devils were on an 18-match winning streak of their own that the Gators ended on Monday.

UF has never won back-to-back national championships but will look to make team history while appearing in the program’s 13th national title game.

The nation’s No. 1 pairing, junior Allie Will/sophomore Sofie Oyen, opened doubles action with an 8-3 win and was forced watch as their teammates fought to clinch the point. Sophomore Alex Cercone/junior Caroline Hitimana trailed most of their match but held off Duke and relieved the pressure on Florida’s second-best pairing.

That duo, No. 22-ranked junior Lauren Embree/senior Joanna Mather, coughed up a substantial lead and allowed the Blue Devils to pull even with them at 7-7. Embree and Mather were soon down 8-7 and fighting for their lives but evened the match 8-8 and dominated the tiebreak round to clinch the doubles point for the Gators. Cercone and Hitimana dropped their match 8-4 in time with Embree/Mather pulling out the victory.

Florida lost five of their six first sets in singles action but was still able to increase their lead over Duke to 2-0 after No. 9 Embree built off her opening set victory and won her singles match 6-4, 6-1. The Gators then jumped ahead 3-0 when No. 21 Mather came from behind to take her match 2-6, 6-2, 6-0.

No. 61 Oyen and No. 79 Cercone both took their second sets after falling behind early, giving the Gators four opportunities to notch the match-winning points. The first of those chances was lost shortly after when sophomore Olivia Janowicz fell 1-6, 6-4, 3-6 and allowed the Blue Devils to reduce their deficit to 3-1.

No. 1 Will struggled all match long with No. 2 Beatrice Capra. The 2012 ACC Player and Freshman of the Year eventually upset her 4-6, 4-6 in straight sets and brought Duke within two points with two matches left to play.

Oyen did her best to hold off her opponent but was unable to do so for long, losing 3-6, 7-5, 2-6 and putting both teams’ title hopes in the hands of Cercone and No. 66 Mary Clayton, two extremely well-matched players.

The competitors went back-and-forth all afternoon with Clayton claiming the first set and forcing Cercone to come from behind if she wanted to pull out a victory. In the end Cercone did just that, starting with an 0-2 deficit in the third set before outscoring Clayton 6-1 over the final seven games to pick up a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 win and send Florida to the championship game.

UF will face No. 1 UCLA for the 2012 NCAA Championship on Tuesday at 1 p.m. The Gators will be participating in their 13th NCAA Tournament final in the last 25 years and will be looking to win the team’s sixth national title.

Tags: Alex Cercone, Allie Will, Caroline Hitimana, Duke Blue Devils, Final Four, Joanna Mather, Lauren Embree, Magill Tennis Complex, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Olivia Janowicz, Sofie Oyen, tennis

No. 2 Florida Gators women’s tennis defeated the No. 11 Miami Hurricanes 4-0 in the Elite Eight round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament on Saturday to advance to the Final Four for the third-straight season and 22nd time in program history.

Florida (25-1) extended their winning streak to 20 matches as they beat Miami (21-5) in the NCAA Tournament for the third year in a row, moving on to the Final Four following each victory. The Gators have not allowed any of their opponents to register a single point in this year’s event, improving to 18-0 after previously sweeping South Carolina State (4-0), No. 31 Washington State (6-0) and No. 16 Michigan (4-0).

The No. 22 duo of junior Lauren Embree and senior Joanna Mather lost their doubles match 8-4, but Florida’s other pairings – No. 1 junior Allie Will/sophomore Sofie Oyen (8-3) and sophomore Alex Cercone/junior Caroline Hitimana (8-6) – pulled off victories to clinch the doubles point for the Gators.

It took Cercone/Hitimana 1:46 to cap the point for UF as the duo needed 18 points to win the second-to-last game of their match and take a 7-6 lead.

Once the doubles point was out of the way, Florida cruised in singles competition.

No. 79 Cercone (6-2, 6-2), sophomore Olivia Janowicz (6-3, 6-2) and No. 21 Mather (6-2, 6-4) each won their matches in straight sets to send the Gators to a 4-0 victory. No. 1 Will (6-3, 4-2), No. 9 Embree (7-6[2], 1-3) and No. 61 Oyen (6-3, 5-3) were all leading but did not finish their respective matches.

Florida moves on to face No. 3 Duke, riding an 18-match winning streak of their own, in Final Four action on Monday at 1 p.m. The winner will take on either No. 1 UCLA or No. 5 USC for the national title on Tuesday at 1 p.m.

Tags: Alex Cercone, Allie Will, Caroline Hitimana, Elite Eight, Final Four, Joanna Mather, Lauren Embree, NCAA, NCAA Tournament, Olivia Janowicz, Sofie Oyen, tennis