University of Florida freshman Allie Will (Boca Raton, Fla.) defeated Florida State’s Lauren McCreless, 6-1, 7-5, on Sunday and advanced to the semifinal of the Wilson/ITA Southeast Region Championships held at the Bill Moore Tennis Center.

 

Will plays Miami’s third-ranked Laura Vallverdu on Monday for the right to play for the championship. The other semifinal match features Georgia’s Nadja Gilchrist and Florida State’s Noemie Scharle.

 

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.

 

“Allie played well against McCreless. It was a great, hard-fought match and was very competitive, especially the second set,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “McCreless always seems to raise her game when she plays the Gators. We always seem to bring out her best effort. Allie was really strong and her forehand proved to be the difference in that match.”

 

UF sophomore Claire Bartlett (Chattanooga, Tenn.) lost her bid to make it an all-Gator final, as she dropped her match to Vallverdu, 6-2, 6-1.

 

“Claire had some chances, particularly in the first set early, but Vallverdu (a senior) showed her experience and was able to hurt us with some change of pace and angles,” Thornqvist said.

 

The doubles team of Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) and Will began the day defeating FSU’s McCreless and Francescca Segarelli, 8-3, in the quarterfinals, but dropped an 8-4 decision to Miami’s third-seed tandem of Gabriela Mejia and Laura Vallverdu in the semifinal round.

 

“Miami was the more aggressive team and found a way to hurt us,” Thornqvist said. “We were able to counter late with some adjustments and that got us back in the game, but they did a good job of closing us out.”

 

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

 

Sunday, October 25, 2009

 

UF Results Only

 

Singles, Quarterfinals

(6-seed/not ranked) Allie Will (UF) d. (11-seed/nr) Lauren McCreless (FSU), 6-1, 7-5

(2-seed/6) Laura Vallverdu (Miami) d. Claire Bartlett (UF), 6-2, 6-1

 

Doubles, Quarterfinals

(1-seed/not ranked) Lauren Embree/Allie Will (UF) d. (8-seed) Lauren McCreless/Francescca Segarelli (FSU), 8-3

 

Doubles, Semifinals

(3-seed/36) Gabriela Mejia/Laura Vallverdu (Miami) d. (1-seed/not ranked) Lauren Embree/Allie Will (UF), 8-4

 

-UF-