Florida women’s tennis sweeps Michigan 4-0

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.