Belinda Woolcock into Semifinals of NCAA Singles Championships

Saturday, May 27

Athens, GA

All Day

Florida Gators

NCAA Singles (QF) & Doubles (QF) Championships

Belinda Woolcock is the first Gator to reach the NCAA Semifinals since 2015.

Belinda Woolcock into Semifinals of NCAA Singles Championships

Saturday, May 27, 2017 | Women's Tennis

Doubles Agate Singles Agate Singles Draw Doubles Draw

Woolcock needed a tough three-setter to get past teammate Anna Danilina.

By: Kathy Cafazzo

ATHENS, Ga. – For Belinda Woolcock the results of Saturday's NCAA Singles Championships quarterfinal match was a mixed bag of emotions.

On one hand, the Gator senior was elated to advance to the semifinals of the prestigious, season-ending national event.

On the other hand, it was tough to celebrate her hard-fought 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex because of her opponent, Gator teammate Anna Danilina.

Danilina took the first set 6-4 on her first-match point opportunity. The match was on-serve through the first eight games before Danilina earned the first break in the ninth game and then served out for the set.

Danilina and Woolcock again were on-serve in the second, through the seventh game. Danilina was serving down 3-4 but couldn't hold, as Woolcock found her grove and won the second 6-3 to send the match into a third and deciding set.

Woolcock raced out to a 3-1 lead in the third and eventually earned the big victory.

Danilina and Woolcock weren't the only Gators in action on Saturday.

Florida's Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan had their magical run in the NCAA Doubles Championships come to a close in the quarterfinals.

Austin and Keegan were the reigning NCAA Doubles Champions and had won seven straight in the national tournament entering Saturday's match against Cal's Maya Jansen and Maegan Manasse, who posted a 7-6, 6-2 decision and end the Gators' streak.

Anna Danillina

Danilina lost a tough 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 decision to sixth-ranked Gator teammate Belinda Woolcock.
This was the first-ever meeting between the two.
Saturday's loss ended Danilina's singles win streak at 16.
The Gator junior, who ends her second collegiate season, finished 37-10 overall this year and 67-17 in her career.
First Round: def. #2 Hayley Carter (UNC), 6-2, 6-3
Second Round: #58 Felicity Maltby (Texas Tech), 6-1, 6-1
Round of 16: #14 Ellen Perez (Georgia), 6-4, 7-6 (3)

Belinda Woolcock

The event's No. 6 seed halted Gator teammates Anna Danilina's singles win streak at 16 with her tough 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
The Gator senior, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the NCAA Team Championships, next plays Miami's 40th-ranked Estela Perez-Somarriba on Sunday for a spot in the finals.
Woolcock now sports a 28-10 singles record this year and a 112-38 career mark.
Woolcock is first Gator to reach the NCAA Singles Semifinals since 2015 when Josie Kuhlman reached the 'final four' of the individual national event.
The last time a Gator reached the finals was back in 2002, when Jessica Lehnhoff faced Wake Forest's Bea Bielik and dropped a 6-2, 6-0 decision.
This is the third consecutive year Woolcock has earned a berth in the singles tournament. Last year she reached the round of 16 – then a career-best.
First round: def. Andrea Lazaro (FIU), 6-3, 6-2
Second round def. #28 Melissa Lord (Stanford), 6-3, 6-4
Round of 16: def. #46 Joana Valle Costa (LSU), 6-3, 6-1

#6 seed, Belinda Woolcock on defeating Gator teammate Anna Danilina, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4

"It's always hard, you know we train together all the time and know each other's game really well. We have both such a great relationship with each other, and I think it was a really nice, respectful match. It was really high quality so it was nice. I am super excited, and cannot wait to get out there again, and yeah I think the way I played today I am very happy, I just can't wait to get out there. I think I did really well with the conditions, and I played the game that I set out to play, you know I stuck to my game plan and my game, and that is the same thing I am going to do tomorrow."

Brooke Austin & Kourtney Keegan

The reigning NCAA Doubles Champions were ousted in the quarterfinals by California's Maya Jansen/Maegan Manasse, 7-6 (3), 6-2, on Saturday.
Austin and Keegan ended with a 17-9 overall this season and 75-20 as a team.
Individually, Austin is 78-25 in career doubles matches, while Keegan, a senior, caps her career with an impressive 117-32 ledger.
Keegan's 117 doubles wins are the fifth most in Gator history.
First Round: def. No. 9 Kate Fahey and Alex Najarian (Michigan), 6-2, 6-2
Round of 16: #40 Shannon Hudson and Giulia Pairone (Arkansas), 7-5, 6-1

Florida's Career Doubles Wins Leaders
Name	Record	Years
Cathy Goodrich	129-30	1987-90
Stephanie Nickitas	128-15	1996-99
Lauren Embree	119-25	2010-13
Nicole Arendt	119-14	1988-91
Kourtney Keegan	117-32	2014-17

Links of Note

NCAA Singles & Doubles Championships - Quarterfinals
Dan Magill Tennis Complex * Athens, Ga.
Saturday, May 27, 2017

UF Results Only
NCAA Singles Championships – Quarterfinals