Gators Win Back-to-Back National Titles

Once wasn’t enough for the Florida women’s tennis team—they did it again on Tuesday. The No. 2 Gators won the national championship on the University of Georgia's campus in Athens to secure back-to-back titles for the program with a 4-0 win over top-ranked UCLA. It was the 22nd consecutive match win for the Gators, and the program’s third national title under head coach Roland Thornqvist.

The Gators didn’t waste time taking the momentum away from UCLA. Florida won the doubles point and moved to 26-0 on the season when it wins the doubles point. Allie Will and Sofie Oyen won the first doubles match 8-2 while Alexandra Cercone and Caroline Hitimana won their match 8-5 to secure the doubles point.

When the doubles point was clinched, Florida got quick singles wins from Cercone and Oyen to run the lead to 3-0. For the second straight year, it was Lauren Embree that won her match to clinch the national championship. She secured the title with a 6-4, 6-0 win over UCLA’s McCall Jones.

The national title secured Florida’s 28th overall and second this year after men’s indoor track and field earned one earlier this season. It’s the 19th national title since Jeremy Foley took over as the athletic director at Florida.

The Gators finish the year with a 27-1 record.

The scary part is that Florida will graduate just one contributing senior—Joanna Mather. The rest of the team returns for next season.