No. 6 Gators Tumble No. 15 Tigers, 6-1

Thursday, March 31

Gainesville, FL

5:00 PM

Florida Gators

LSU

Sophomore Brooke Austin clinched the victory for the Gators with a three-set win on court one.

No. 6 Gators Tumble No. 15 Tigers, 6-1

Thursday, March 31, 2016 | Women's Tennis

By: Grace Duggan

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 6 University of Florida women's tennis team defeated the No. 15 LSU Tigers on Thursday night at Ring Tennis Complex. The Gators improved to 8-0 in SEC play and stand alone atop the SEC team standings.

The doubles point took a six-game comeback effort on court one from Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan. Down 3-love at the beginning of the match, the No. 5-ranked pairing was able to gain the match momentum and win six straight games to take the first doubles match. On court two, Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock clinched the doubles point for the Gators over Ryann Foster and Abby Owens, 6-4.

In singles action, the Orange and Blue were quick to get another team point from Keegan's 6-0, 6-3 win over Kuykendall on court four that took less than an hour. LSU would grab a point back with Abby Owen's defeat of Kuhlman on five.

Sophomore Anna Danilina pushed the Florida lead to 3-1 with a 6-3, 7-6(3) win on six over Ella Taylor. Fellow-sophomore No. 10 Austin would clinch the match for the Orange and Blue with a three-set 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 over No. 19 Joana Vale Costa.

With the match win, Florida improved to 13-2 in dual match play. The Gators' regular season home finale is set for 1 p.m. on Saturday against No. 25 Texas A&M.

Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On playing against tough SEC competition every week…
"That is really important. We have nine teams in the Top-25 in the SEC and LSU is getting better every year. We knew that and we were ready for them, clearly. Our players were very determined and that mindset is really key. I think that is really going to help us later on and come post season time. We are getting tested every week.

I thought in the beginning of the season, in January and February, we weren't getting tested every week and it hurt us. When we went on our California trip, we hadn't played a lot of tough sets, so we gave away points at crucial times. We are starting to clean that up as we continue to be tested. Last week it was South Carolina there and this week it was a tough LSU team. It is going to help this team get ready for the post season."

#6 Florida 6, #15 LSU 1
Doubles-Order of Finish: 1, 2*