Florida Gators
#9 Vanderbilt
Florida Falls to Vanderbilt, 4-2, in SEC Tournament Semifinals
Sunday, April 19, 2015 | Women's Tennis
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The No. 3 Florida Gators were hoping to avenge their lone Southeastern Conference regular-season loss in a re-match with the No. 9 Vanderbilt Commodores, but the No. 4 seed pulled off the upset once again as top-seeded UF dropped a 4-2 decision in the SEC Tournament Semifinals Saturday afternoon at the Carolina Tennis Center.
It was a battle right from the beginning as Vanderbilt got off to a fast start in doubles and took an early lead on all three courts. The Gators showed their usual poise, however, and slowly began to chip away at the Commodores' lead. After trailing 4-1, No. 12-ranked Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan pushed seven-straight games to win, 8-4, on Court 1.
The momentum continued to shift in favor of the Orange and Blue, as Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock went ahead, 7-6, on Court 2 and Spencer Liang and Peggy Porter tied it up, five-all at No. 3. Vanderbilt's No. 16-ranked duo, Ashleigh Antal and Astra Sharma, forced a tiebreak on Court 2 and evened the doubles tally at one win apiece as they topped Kuhlman and Woolcock, 8-7 (4). Liang and Porter suffered a similar fate on Court 3 when they allowed a 7-5 lead to slip away and fell to Frances Altick and Marie Casares, 8-7 (3).
Vanderbilt took a 2-0 lead after they notched the first singles point of the match before rain disrupted action. Play resumed indoors at 4:36 p.m. following a rain delay that lasted over an hour.
Austin put the Gators on the board with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Sydney Campbell, avenging her straight-set loss in the regular-season meeting between the Gators and the Commodores. Belinda Woolcock was able to even the score with Vanderbilt's Marie Casares after suffering a regular-season loss to the No. 5 singles player. The No. 53-ranked Gator topped Casares, 7-6 (2), 6-3.
Just as Florida tied the match at two-all, Vanderbilt quickly pulled ahead with a singles win on Court 6. UF needed wins on both Courts 2 and 3 to achieve the comeback victory. Both matches were forced into a third set, but the Gators were unable to hold on as the Commodores tabbed the match-clinching victory in three sets on Court 2.
The team bracket selection show announcing the match-ups for the 2015 NCAA Tournament will be held on Tuesday, April 28, with the women's bracket being announced at 5 p.m. The first and second rounds of the tournament will be held at various campus sites beginning on May 9.
| 2015 University of Florida Women's Tennis | ||||||
| Carolina Tennis Center | ||||||
| Columbia, S.C. | ||||||
| Saturday, April 18, 2015 | ||||||
| Doubles | FLORIDA | vs | VANDERBILT | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| Brooke Austin (12) | Sydney Campbell (25) | |||||
| No. 1 - | Kourtney Keegan (12) | Courtney Colton (25) | UF | 8-4 | ||
| Josie Kuhlman | Ashleigh Antal (16) | |||||
| No. 2 - | Belinda Woolcock | Astra Sharma (16) | VU | 8-7 (4) | ||
| Spencer Liang | Frances Altick | |||||
| No. 3 - | Peggy Porter | Marie Casares | VU* | 8-7 (3) | ||
| Singles | FLORIDA | vs | VANDERBILT | Winner |
| Score/match length |
| No. 1 - | Brooke Austin (5) | Sydney Campbell (9) | UF | 7-5, 6-3 | ||
| No. 2 - | Josie Kuhlman (10) | Astra Sharma (41) | VU | 6-4, 6-7 (0), 6-1 | ||
| No. 3 - | Brianna Morgan (27) | Frances Altick (120) | DNF | 6-4, 4-6, 2-2 | ||
| No. 4 - | Kourtney Keegan (45) | Courtney Colton (74) | VU | 6-2, 6-0 | ||
| No. 5 - | Belinda Woolcock (53) | Marie Casares (100) | UF | 7-6 (2), 6-3 | ||
| No. 6 - | Peggy Porter | Ashleigh Antal | VU | 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 | ||
| FINAL SCORE: | Florida – 2 | Vanderbilt – 4 | * Clinched victory | |||
| Records: | Florida 21-3, 12-1 | Vanderbilt 18-6, 11-2 | ||||
| Order of Finish: | Doubles: 1, 2, 3* | Singles: 4, 1, 5, 6, 2* | ||||
| Attendance: NA | ||||||
Quotes from the Match
Thornqvist's Thoughts – Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On falling to Vanderbilt in the semifinals…
Small margins in this game, for sure. I thought we made some good improvements from two weeks ago when we played them. We played much better in doubles and they have a fantastic doubles team. And then we did a much better job also after the doubles point coming out with determination in singles. In some spots maybe we could've done a thing or two differently but you've got to give this Vanderbilt team credit. They showed a lot of class and ability to be able to close us out. I think [our] team has a lot of improvement to build on and a lot we can achieve in these next three weeks and if I know this group, they're going to take this the right way and be motivated to become the most improved team from now until we play in the Regionals.
Florida vs. Vanderbilt:
Florida dropped to 47-4 all-time against Vanderbilt with today's loss.
Florida at the SEC Tournament:
The Gators are now 70-9 all-time in SEC Tournament matches, losing six times to Georgia, once to Ole Miss, once to Texas A&M and once to Vanderbilt. They are now 24-3 in the semifinal round. The Gators have won 19 out of a possible 28 SEC Tournament titles. They have advanced to the final round of the tournament 24 times in the 28-year history of the event.
Florida vs. SEC Teams:
Florida holds a 440-31 all-time record against Southeastern Conference opponents including postseason matchups, and a 372-20 mark in regular-season matches (12-1 this season).
Freshman Phenom:
Brooke Austin holds the team lead in dual match singles victories (17). Austin, the first freshman to play No. 1 singles since Gator Great Lauren Embree, has defeated 10 ranked players in dual match action.
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