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

No. 2 Florida Gators women’s tennis (24-1) advanced to the Elite Eight of the 2012 NCAA Tournament with a 4-0 victory over the No. 15 Michigan Wolverines (21-8) on Thursday at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, GA.

Florida improved to 26-3 all-time in round of 16 matches and is advancing to the Elite Eight for the third-straight year, seventh time in the last eight seasons and 26th time in team history. UF has swept all three opponents they have faced in the NCAA Tournament, amassing a combined 14-0 record so far in this year’s event.

The Gators started by coming from behind to clinch the doubles point. The No. 1 duo in the country – Florida’s junior Allie Will and sophomore Sofie Oyen – uncharacteristically fell 8-5, but the team of sophomore Alex Cercone and junior Caroline Hitimana picked up the slack with an 8-2 win.

Behind two games in the third doubles match, the No. 22 pairing of junior Lauren Embree and senior Joanna Mather came through in the clutch by winning four-straight games to turn a 5-7 deficit into a 9-7 victory and win the doubles point for Florida.

Things were much easier for the Gators in singles action as No. 9 Embree (6-4, 6-1), No. 61 Oyen (6-1, 6-3) and sophomore Olivia Janowicz (6-1, 6-3) each closed out their opponents almost simultaneously. No. 1 Will (6-3, 4-3) and No. 79 Cercone (6-1, 5-1) were both leading when their matches were halted.

Florida will remain in Athens for the rest of the tournament as they look to defend their 2011 NCAA Championship. The Gators have won 19 consecutive matches and will take on No. 10 Miami on Saturday at 4 p.m. for the opportunity to advance to their third-straight Final Four. It is the third consecutive year that Florida and Miami will go head-to-head in NCAA quarterfinals action.

Tags: Alex Cercone, Allie Will, Caroline Hitimana, Elite Eight, Joanna Mather, Lauren Embree, Magill Tennis Complex, Michigan Wolverines, NCAA, NCAA Championship, NCAA Tournament, Olivia Janowicz, Sofie Oyen, tennis

No. 3 Florida Gators (21-1) women’s tennis captured the 2012 Southeastern Conference Tournament Championship on Saturday with a 4-1 victory over the No. 7 Georgia Bulldogs (21-4) to bring the title back to Gainesville, FL for the third-straight season and eighth time in the last 11 years.

Competing at the Palmer/Salloum Tennis Center in Oxford, MS, Florida worked hard to clinch the doubles point and take an early advantage. Junior Caroline Hitimana and sophomore Olivia Janowicz lost the first doubles match 8-1, but the No. 1 duo of junior Allie Will/sophomore Sofie Oyen and No. 19 pairing of junior Lauren Embree/senior Joanna Mather each won their respective matches to give UF a 1-0 lead.

No. 23 Mather followed her doubles win with a dominant singles victory (6-4, 6-4), putting the Gators ahead 2-0. The Bulldogs got a point back as Lilly Kimbell defeated sophomore No. 68 Alex Cercone (6-3, 2-6, 6-3) but lost it just as quickly when No. 10 Embree came from behind to finish off No. 7 Chelsey Gullickson (3-6, 6-4, 7-5).

With three matches remaining, UF was looking for one more point to clinch the title while UGA was hoping to win three-straight in a major comeback effort.

Florida would not give Georgia that opportunity as No. 121 Hitimana earned a 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 victory to clinch the win for the Gators.

No. 1 Will led her singles match (6-7, 7-5, 4-2) at the conclusion of the event, and No. 51 Oyen was fighting for a victory in her contest as well (4-6, 7-5, 5-5).

UF women’s tennis has now won 18 SEC Tournament titles and captured the SEC regular season championship 26 times in the team’s history. Florida will make its 30th appearance in the NCAA Tournament on May 11 as the Gators look to defend their national title.

Photo Credit: Sean Cartell

Tags: Allie Will, Caroline Hitimana, Georgia Bulldogs, Joanna Mather, Lauren Embree, Olivia Janowicz, SEC, SEC Championship, SEC Tournament, Sofie Oyen, tennis

1 » No. 1 Florida Gators baseball (30-8, 10-6 SEC) prevailed in a 16-inning marathon on Friday, defeating the Georgia Bulldogs (23-16, 7-9 SEC) 3-2 in the teams’ series opener at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, FL. Florida gave up a 2-1 lead in the top of the eighth as Georgia tied things up but neither team posted a run in the following 16 frames. Finally the Gators ended the game by forcing the Bulldogs to commit the first error of the contest for either team. Junior first baseman Vickash Ramjit walked with one out, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved over to third thanks to a wild pitch. Junior shortstop Nolan Fontana stepped up to the plate with hopes of driving Ramjit home but struck out swinging; however, Fontana’s third strike was dropped and an error by the catcher (a bad throw to first) allowed Ramjit to cross the plate. Right-handed relievers junior Austin Maddox and senior Greg Larson tossed the final 8.2 innings of the game. Maddox struck out five and allowed four hits in 5.2 innings, but Larson (5-0) earned the win after striking out two in three no-hit innings to conclude the contest. Friday’s game was the longest UF has participated in since 1996.

2 » No. 1 Florida gymnastics finished second in Session II of the 2012 NCAA Championships on Friday, advancing to the 2012 NCAA Super Six for a chance to win the first national title in team history. UF finished with a final score of 197.650, just 0.025 behind session winner Alabama. Freshman Kytra Hunter also captured the NCAA all-around individual national title – the first in team history – with a 39.725 in the event. The Gators will compete for the team national championship on Saturday at 4 p.m. (streamed live on ESPN3.com) and the rest of the individual titles on Sunday.

Click to expand and read two more BITS in this post.

Tags: Alex Cercone, Alyssa Bache, Austin Maddox, baseball, Briana Little, Cheyenne Coyle, Florida International Golden Panthers, Georgia Bulldogs, Greg Larson, gymnastics, Kelsey Horton, Kytra Hunter, Lauren Haeger, McKethan Stadium, NCAA, NCAA Championships, NCAA Super Six, Nolan Fontana, Ole Miss Rebels, Olivia Janowicz, Sami Fagan, SEC, SEC Tournament, Sofie Oyen, softball, Tennessee Volunteers, Vickash Ramjit

No. 2 Florida Gators women’s tennis (18-1, 11-0 SEC) completed a perfect Southeastern Conference slate on Saturday to win the 2012 SEC regular season title outright after defeating the No. 27 South Carolina Gamecocks (14-7, 5-6 SEC) 4-1.

In a rare occurrence, Florida dropped the doubles point as both the No. 1-ranked team of junior Allie Will/sophomore Sofie Oyen and the duo of sophomore Olivia Janowicz/junior Caroline Hitimana both fell. Only the No. 16 team of junior Lauren Embree/senior Joanna Mather was victorious.

However, the Gators made up for it in singles action by winning the first four completed matches before the meeting was suspended. No. 1 Will, No. 10 Embree, No. 21 Mather and No. 73 sophomore Alex Cercone all won in straight sets to clinch the SEC regular season title for Florida.

The Gators will take their 13-match win streak into the 2012 SEC Tournament which begins on April 19 in Oxford, MS. No. 1-seed Florida receives a first-round bye as they hope to win the event for the third-straight season.

Tags: Alex Cercone, Allie Will, Caroline Hitimana, Joanna Mather, Lauren Embree, Olivia Janowicz, SEC, SEC Championship, Sofie Oyen, South Carolina Gamecocks, women's tennis

1 » Though the date has been set for at least a few weeks now, the Florida Gators officially announced this week that the team will hold its Pro Day on March 13. Free and open to the public, Pro Day will feature a number of draft-eligible Gators working out for NFL scouts and coaches from around the league right on Florida Field in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Florida also announced that seven players who graduated in 2011 – quarterback John Brantley, defensive end William Green, defensive tackle Jaye Howard, defensive back Moses Jenkins, running back Chris Rainey and wide receiver Deonte Thompson – are scheduled to participate. Also in attendance to work out for scouts will be former Gators including DT Troy Epps, DT Lawrence Marsh, DB Dorian Munroe, DB Wondy Pierre-Louis and WR Justin Williams.

2 » EA Sports announced via their Facebook page that QB Tim Tebow is one of two Denver Broncos players representing his team in the online voting for cover athlete for the Madden NFL 13 video game. Voting begins March 7; after the field is cut down to 32 players, head-to-head votes will take place until the final cover athlete is picked. Tebow, who was on the cover of NCAA Football 11 two years ago, may actually want to avoid winning this contest due to the dreaded and much-publicized Madden curse.

3 » No. 15 Florida women’s tennis (6-1) swept the Florida State Seminoles (5-4) at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex for the team’s 99th consecutive home victory. The Gators, now 52-1 all-time against the Seminoles, beat their in-state rivals 7-0. The No. 13 pairing of junior Allie Will and sophomore Sofie Oyen won 8-2, leading the way for three doubles victories. No. 1 Will (6-1, 6-2), No. 39 Oyen (6-2, 6-1), No. 18 senior Joanna Mather (6-3, 6-1), No. 23 junior Lauren Embree (6-2, 6-2) and sophomore Olivia Janowicz (6-4, retired) all won their singles matches as well in the rout. Florida will compete in back-to-back road meets against Tennessee on Friday and Georgia on Sunday before returning to Gainesville, FL looking for their 100th straight win at home next Friday against Vanderbilt.

4 » Eight-seed Gators women’s basketball (18-11, 8-8 SEC) is set to begin action in the 2012 SEC Tournament by taking on the nine-seed Auburn Tigers (13-16, 5-11 SEC) on Thursday at 1 p.m. With the game airing live on FOX Sports Network, fans can watch as Florida tries to pull out a victory for the opportunity to square-off with one-seed Kentucky on Friday at 1 p.m.

Tags: Allie Will, Auburn Tigers, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Chris Rainey, Denver Broncos, Deonte Thompson, Dorian Munroe, EA Sports, Florida Field, Florida State Seminoles, Jaye Howard, Joanna Mather, John Brantley, Justin Williams, Lauren Embree, Lawrence Marsh, Linder Stadium, Madden NFL 13, Moses Jenkins, NFL, Olivia Janowicz, Pro Day, Ring Tennis Complex, SEC, SEC Tournament, Sofie Oyen, Tim Tebow, Troy Epps, William Green, women's basketball, women's tennis, Wondy Pierre-Louis