The University of Florida’s Claire Bartlett (Chattanooga, Tenn.) and Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) advanced to the quarterfinals of the singles draw, while the doubles team of Will and Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) moved into the similar round at the Wilson/ITA Southeast Region Championships on Saturday held at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.

 

Bartlett, Will and Embree won their respective second-round singles matches, with Bartlett defeating Georgia Tech’s Sasha Krupina, 6-4, 7-6 (6), Will downing Georgia State’s Katerina Gresova, 6-2, 6-2, and Embree moving past Florida International’s 52^nd-ranked Liset Brito, 6-2, 6-3.

 

In the round of 16, Bartlett upset Florida State’s ninth-seeded and 82^nd-ranked Fredrica Suess, 7-5, 6-4, while Will enjoyed a 6-1, 6-2 victory over the Seminoles’ Amy Sargeant to advance to the quarterfinals, where Bartlett takes on Miami’s No. 2-seeded and sixth-ranked Laura Vallverdu and Will faces FSU’s 11^th-seeded Lauren McCreless.

 

“Allie played excellent tennis all day, she was very aggressive and had a lot of zip on her ball and that really made a difference, especially in her second match of the day,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “Claire had an excellent day and beat two really good opponents. The hitting she’s been doing in practice is really helping her. She’s crafty when she plays and her forehand and her serve is getting a lot better.”

 

Embree, the top-seed in the 64-player singles draw despite being unranked, was knocked out in the round of 16 by Georgia State’s 10^th-seeded and 62^nd-ranked Diana Nakic, 6-3, 6-4.

 

“For the most part, I was very happy with today’s action,” Thornqvist said. “Lauren ran into a very tough opponent and lost in two tough sets. Perhaps we didn’t play at the top of our game, but our opponent didn’t really give us a chance.”

 

Earlier in the day, Embree and Will paired and posted an impressive 8-2 victory over South Florida’s Allyn Muellera and Ecaterina Vasenina to reach the quarterfinal round, where they take on Florida’s State’s Lauren McCreless and Francescca Segarelli.

 

“In doubles we looked terrific,” Thornqvist said. “We continued the high-level of play that we showed at the Riviera All-American Championships (where Embree and Will reached the final).”

 

Action continues on Sunday morning at 8 a.m.

 

The winners of the singles and doubles tournament advances to the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, considered the second leg of the collegiate Grand Slam. That event will be held at the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in West Haven, Conn., Nov. 5-8.

 

The 32-player singles draw will consist of the 12 regional champions, the four Riviera/All-American semifinalists, the super bowl champion, two host wildcards, 12 at-large bids and one ITA wildcard. The 16-team doubles draw is comprised of the 12 regional champions, the Riviera/All-American champion, the Super bowl champion, one host wild card and one at-large selection.

 

A change was made during the summer to increase the number of regions from eight to 12.

 

The new region alignment that includes the Gators fields 19 schools from the states of Florida and Georgia and renamed the Southeast Region. The schools include: Bethune-Cookman, Central Florida, Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast Univ., Florida International Univ., Florida State, Florida, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Jacksonville, Kennesaw State, Mercer, Miami, North Florida, South Florida and Stetson.

 

 

Wilson/ITA Southeast Region Championships

Bill Moore Tennis Center

Atlanta, Ga.

Hosted by Georgia Tech

 

Saturday, October 24, 2009

 

UF Results Only

 

Singles, Second Round (Round of 32)

(1-seed/not ranked) Lauren Embree (UF) d. (52) Liset Brito (FIU), 6-2, 6-3

(6-seed/not ranked) Allie Will (UF) d. Katerina Gresova (Ga. State), 6-2, 6-2

Claire Bartlett (UF) d. Sasha Krupina (Ga. Tech), 6-4, 7-6 (6)

 

Singles, Third Round (Round of 16)

(10-seed/62) Diana Nakic (Ga. State) d. (1-seed/not ranked) Lauren Embree (UF), 6-3, 6-4

(6-seed/not ranked) Allie Will (UF) d. Amy Sargeant (FSU), 6-1, 6-2

Claire Bartlett (UF) d. (9-seed/82) Fredrica Suess (FSU), 7-5, 6-4

 

Doubles, Second Round (Round of 16)

(1-seed/not ranked) Lauren Embree/Allie Will (UF) d. Allyn Mueller/Ecaterina Vasenina (USF), 8-2

 

 

Sunday’s pairings

 

Singles, Quarterfinals

(6-seed/not ranked) Allie Will (UF) vs. (11-seed/nr) Lauren McCreless (FSU)

Claire Bartlett (UF) vs. (2-seed/6) Laura Vallverdu (Miami)

 

Doubles, Quarterfinals

(1-seed/not ranked) Lauren Embree/Allie Will (UF) vs. (8-seed) Lauren McCreless/Francescca Segarelli (FSU)

 

-UF-