While Johnny Hamui's attempt to get a second Gator into the men's main draw of the ITA All American Championships came to an unsuccessful end on Tuesday, freshman Lauren Embree was dominant in her first and second round of qualifying and still has a shot at joining Marrit Boonstra in the women's draw.
So too does freshman Allie Will, who was selected to compete in the qualifying draw despite a loss in the pre-qualifying tournament.
Embree blew out No. 70 Lenka Hojckova of North Carolina State 6-0, 6-1 and followed that up with a 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 52 Liset Brito in her second round match on Tuesday. The win brings Embree to 4-0 in her UF career, with each win coming against a ranked opponent.
"Lauren was very aggressive today, and that's something we've been working a lot on in practice," associate head coach Dave Balogh said.
Also in action on Tuesday was Will, who by a stroke of luck got selected to play in the qualifying tournament and made the most of her opportunity with wins over Anna Redecsi of DePaul and Denise Dy of Washington.
This wasn't the only action for the talented freshmen on the day, as they teamed up and won an 8-6 victory over third-seeded Marta Lesniak and Aleksandra Malyarchikova of SMU. Will and Embree went down 3-0 early but managed to keep it together and record the comeback victory. This brings UF's team of freshman to 3-0 in doubles action for the season.
"They communicate and work really well together, but whether its singles or doubles they're just so competitive, they always find a way to come through," Balogh said.
Also in the women's doubles qualifying draw is the team of Boonstra and Joanna Mather, the tournament's No. 2 seed. This pairing was also victorious Tuesday, besting Vanja Corovic and Stephanie Davison of Texas 8-4.
On the men's side, Hamui fell to Christoph Thiemann of Ole Miss 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, ensuring only Alex Lacroix will be participating in the main draw.
