Florida Gators
#15 Texas A&M
Dallas Native Peggy Porter Clinches 4-3 Victory at Texas A&M
Wednesday, March 25, 2015 | Women's Tennis
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Freshman Peggy Porter shined in her return to her home state of Texas and clinched a major Southeastern Conference 4-3 victory on the road for the No. 5 Florida Gators over the No. 15 Texas A&M Aggies Tuesday afternoon at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Fellow rookie No. 7 Josie Kuhlman tied the match score at three on Court 2 with a 7-6, 6-1 win over Ines Deheza just as No. 112-ranked Porter and her opponent, No. 101 Stefania Hristov, became knotted in a 3-3 tie in the third and match-deciding set on Court 6. Porter and Deheza exchanged games back and forth and the Dallas native found herself trailing, 5-6, but managed to tie the set, 6-6, and force a tiebreaker. Porter earned the first two points of the tiebreaker, but allowed Hristov to match her, 2-2. It was all Porter from that point on, as the Florida freshman rattled off five-straight points to secure the 4-3 victory for the Gators.
Florida started singles at a 1-0 disadvantage after dropping the doubles point for the first time since their 4-1 victory over Alabama on February 27. The Orange and Blue fell behind, 2-0, when junior No. 24 Brianna Morgan dropped just her second-ever SEC dual singles match. Freshman Brooke Austin and sophomore Kourtney Keegan set the Gators up for a come-from-behind win with victories at No. 1 and No. 5 singles, but the Aggies wouldn't go away and claimed a win at the No. 4 position to regain the lead, leaving Kuhlman and Porter to close it out for Florida.
The Gators return home to host No. 26 South Carolina on Saturday, March 28 at 1 p.m. at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
| 2015 University of Florida Women's Tennis | ||||||
| Mitchell Tennis Center | ||||||
| College Station, Texas | ||||||
| Tuesday, March 24, 2015 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | TEXAS A&M | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| Brooke Austin (8) | Ines Deheza (16) | |||||
| No. 1 - | Kourtney Keegan (8) | Stefania Hristov (16) | DNF | 7-7, DNF | ||
| Spencer Liang (54) | Eva Paalma (56) | |||||
| No. 2 - | Belinda Woolcock (54) | Rachel Pierson (56) | A&M* | 8-6 | ||
| Josie Kuhlman (31) | Rutujua Bhosale (80) | |||||
| No. 3 - | Peggy Porter (31) | Saska Gavrilovska (80) | A&M | 8-5 | ||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | TEXAS A&M | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| No. 1 - | Brooke Austin (5) | Rachel Pierson (32) | UF | 6-3, 6-3 | ||
| No. 2 - | Josie Kuhlman (7) | Ines Deheza | UF | 7-6 (5), 6-1 | ||
| No. 3 - | Brianna Morgan (24) | Saska Gavrilovska (77) | A&M | 6-2, 6-2 | ||
| No. 4 - | Belinda Woolcock (41) | Rutuja Bhosale (57) | A&M | 6-3, 6-3 | ||
| No. 5 - | Kourtney Keegan (37) | Eva Paalma | UF | 6-3, 6-2 | ||
| No. 6 - | Peggy Porter (112) | Stefania Hristov (101) | UF* | 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2) | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida – 4 | Texas A&M – 3 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 16-1, 8-0 | Texas A&M 8-4, 5-2 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 3, 2* | Singles: 3, 1, 5, 4, 2, 6* | ||||
| Attendance: NA | ||||||
Quotes from the Match
Thornqvist's Thoughts – Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On the thrilling victory at Texas A&M…
Peggy Porter had a dramatic win. We played way too cautiously in doubles and although we got off to decent starts, when it came down to closing the doubles matches out after we had leads, we were way too cautious and it almost cost us today. The first three singles matches we won fairly routinely. Our players did really well. It came down to Peggy in her home state and as a freshman in that environment, to be able to come through after a back-and-forth battle was really, really fantastic. It's something you can't prepare for and she just showed great toughness today to be able to close it out for the Gators. We're going to learn from this and certainly approach doubles differently and probably with a little more attitude when it comes down to finishing on the road. We're tremendously happy with the win. Texas A&M has a great team and obviously they're very well coached by Howard [Joffe]. We're pleased with the win and looking forward to heading home.
Florida vs. Texas A&M:
With today's win, Florida earned a 3-2 edge in the all-time series with Texas A&M.
Florida vs. SEC Teams:
Florida holds a 435-29 all-time record against Southeastern Conference opponents including postseason matchups, and a 368-19 mark in regular-season matches (7-0 this season).
Going the Distance in Doubles:
The Gators improved to 4-1 when losing the doubles point. The squad is undefeated (12-0) when earning the early tally.
Hometown Hero:
Freshman Peggy Porter, a native of Dallas, Texas, clinched the 4-3 win for the Gators in dramatic fashion. It was her third-career match-clinching victory for the Orange and Blue and first since claiming back-to-back victories for UF versus Arkansas and Missouri. Porter has posted a singles point in five of her last six outings.
Tough to Beat:
Today's victory was the 11th consecutive win for the Gators. They are the only SEC team that remains undefeated in conference play.
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