|
|
|
PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. - Entering today's action at the Riviera/ITA
Women's All-American Championships, phenom freshmen Lauren Embree and
Allie Will of Florida had the opportunity to advance to the semifinals
in singles as well as the semifinals of the doubles draw as a duo.
Tennessee's Caitlin Whoriskey also tried to follow suit after her big
singles win over the top seed yesterday and teaming up with partner
Natalie Pluskota in doubles. While all three fell short in singles play,
the Florida and Tennessee doubles teams notched huge upsets in doubles
to advance to tomorrow's semifinals.
Embree and Will, both of whom are freshmen, blanked the reigning
Riviera/ITA All-American Champions, Amanda McDowell and Irina Falconi of
Georgia Tech, who were coming off an upset of their own by knocking out
the top-seeded Cal team in yesterday's first round action.
"Lauren and Allie were in a zone today on the doubles court," UF
associate head coach Dave Balogh said. "The competed very hard and made
just four errors in the entire match. I hope they can continue this
run."
Falconi would redeem the doubles loss by cruising to 6-1, 6-1 win over
Tennessee's Caitlin Whoriskey, who provided yesterday's big headline
with a straight-set victory over top-seeded Maria Mosolova of
Northwestern.
However, Whoriskey too would redeem her loss by teaming up with Pluskota,
the ITA/USTA Summer Singles Champion, to exact revenge on No. 2-ranked
team in the country of Hilary Barte and Lindsay Burdette from Stanford,
who defeated the Lady Vols in last years' NCAA Doubles Championships.
They were able to do just that, coming out on top, 8-4.
"Natalie and Caitlin played extremely well today," UT Co-Head Coach Mike
Patrick said. "They simply were not going to lose a second time to
Stanford. They are excited about moving on and getting a chance to play
a really good Baylor team in the semifinals."
Joining the eighth-seeded Falconi in the semifinals of the singles main
draw are Jana Juricova, who lost to Falconi and 2007 ITA National Player
of the Year, Amanda McDowell in first round doubles, Venise Chan, who
advanced with a straight set victory over Riviera/ITA All-American
defending singles champion, Kelcy McKenna of Arizona State, and No.2
Chelsey Gullickson of Georgia, the 2009 ITA National Rookie of the Year
and highest seed remaining.
The tournament, hosted by the Riviera Tennis Club in Pacific Palisades,
Calif. for the 25th consecutive year kicked off on Saturday, October 3
and concludes on Sunday, October 11.
Play resumes Saturday with semifinal singles matches beginning at 10 am
PDT, followed by semifinal doubles.
Can't find what you're looking for? Try Google
Search!
Forward This Article to a Friend
Back to Tennisnews.com Home Page
|