Gators, Vols Post Upset Doubles Wins but lose in Semifinal Singles at Riviera/ITA Women's All-American

Gators, Vols Post Upset Doubles Wins but Lose in
Semifinal Singles at Riviera/ITA Women's All-American
 

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 25^th 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.