Florida Gators
#11 Georgia
Women's Tennis Drops First SEC Match of Season
Sunday, March 16, 2014 | Women's Tennis
Third-ranked Florida lost a hard-fought 4-2 decision at No. 12 Georgia at Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts in Athens, Ga., on Sunday afternoon.
The match was moved to the four-court indoor facility due to rain and the Bulldogs jumped out in front of a raucous home crowd to win the doubles point.
Georgia continued that momentum onto the singles courts, where the home team won the first two matches completed, taking straight-set wins on courts one and three, and took a 3-0 lead.
The Gators then rallied behind a pair of three-set wins thanks to Sofie Oyen and Brianna Morgan earning victories on courts four and two, respectively, and Florida cut its deficit to 3-2.
With all attention then turned to courts five and six, Kourtney Keegan was playing the second game of her third set when Gator freshman Belinda Woolcock bowed out to Georgia senior Kate Fuller, 6-4, 6-3, in the clinching decision.
Quoting UF Head Coach Roland Thornqvist:
“This was one of the better Florida-Georgia matches in recent years. I'm very proud of this team because they atmosphere here in the indoor center was, in my 13 years at Florida, the toughest atmosphere that we've played in. It was a fantastic crowd, they were relentless and they really helped Georgia sustain their momentum throughout the match. Although they outplayed us for the majority of the beginning of the match, we somehow found a way to make it 3-2 and make it interesting. I thought Georgia played a fantastic match, really. If they can play like this at home, they will be my pick to win the national championship. The level of play that they displayed today in front of their home crowd should make them the favorite. It was a very, very high level of tennis.”
Numbers of Note:
· Senior Sofie Oyen won her 98th career singles match and improved to 10-2 in dual matches this year, 5-0 in SEC action
· Sophomore Brianna Morgan won her 49th career singles match, as well as her 22nd this year and improved to 5-0 in SEC play.
No. 3 Florida at No. 12 Georgia
Lindsey Hopkins Indoor Courts * Athens, Ga.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Final: #12 Georgia 4, #3 Florida 2
Doubles (order of finish: 1, 3)
1. #3 Lauren Herring/Maho Kowase (UGA) def. #24 Belinda Woolcock/Sofie Oyen (UF) 8-0
2. #36 Kate Fuller/Silvia Garcia (UGA) vs. #35 Kourtney Keegan/Olivia Janowicz (UF) 7-3, unfinished
3. Lilly Kimbell/Caroline Brinson (UGA) def. Alexandra Cercone/Brianna Morgan (UF) 8-2*
Singles (order of finish: 1,3,4,2,5)
1. #10 Lauren Herring (UGA) def. #8 Olivia Janowicz (UF) 6-2, 6-4
2. #23 Brianna Morgan (UF) def. #15 Silvia Garcia (UGA) 2-6, 6-4, 6-1
3. #21 Maho Kowase (UGA) def. #22 Alexandra Cercone (UF) 6-2, 6-3
4. #38 Sofie Oyen (UF) def. #45 Lilly Kimbell (UGA) 3-6, 6-2, 6-3
5. Kate Fuller (UGA) def. #78 Belinda Woolcock (UF) 6-4, 6-3*
6. Mia King (UGA) vs. #44 Kourtney Keegan (UF) 6-2, 4-6, 1-0, unfinished
Records: Florida 12-3, 4-1 SEC … Georgia 12-2, 5-0 SEC
Notes: Match played indoors due to rain … total length of match: 4:42 hours … attendance 561
Next Gator Weekend Competition:
Who, When, Where: at No. 21 Auburn, Fri., March 21 at 5 p.m. ET
Who, When, Where: at No. 8 Alabama, Sun., March 23 at 2 p.m. ET
For all of the latest information on Florida women's tennis:
Official Website: http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/women/
Twitter: @GatorZoneTennis and @GatorZoneNews
-##-
