Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 7-ranked University of Florida women's tennis team dropped their first dual match of the season against the No. 1-ranked California Golden Bears, 4-3 on Friday afternoon. The match came down to the third set of the last match with Cal edging out the Gators and escaping with the match victory.

The Orange and Blue grabbed the doubles point for the sixth time this season. No. 1 tandem and No. 7-ranked Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan defeated No. 6-ranked Manassee and Starr, 6-4. Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock clinched the doubles point for Florida with a 7-5 victory over Fabikova and Hauger.

In singles action, UF got points from Austin and Woolcock on Courts One and Two. Austin defeated Manasse, 6-3, 6-3 and Fabikova fell to Woolcock, 6-2, 6-0. Cal would bring the match to a tie at three-all with wins on three, four and six. The match would come down to Brianna Morgan and Olivia Hauger. Morgan and Hauger split the first two sets, but Morgan ultimately fell, 6-4 in the final set.

UF will have Saturday off before travelling to Stanford for their match against the Cardinals on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET.

Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On today's tough loss to Cal…
"It was a really tough loss. A big credit goes to Cal though, who were able to dig themselves out of that hole. They had one foot out of the door and I was wondering for the backend of this one because we hadn't really been test as a team and whether that was going to impact our play at some point. I thought perhaps it did today, where it was the first time all year we were tested and we scoreboard watched there at the end. It looked like the outcome of the match was in doubt and that affected our play. That is something we are going to have to learn.

I have to be honest. It was a very impressive comeback for Cal to be able to come back and do that. It is difficult to do against this team. I thought we fought super hard, but we needed to more assertive to finish the match on several courts. Today was just not our day. I am going to make it my mission that we learn from this loss and that we become an even better team when we play again on Sunday."

Final Results
#1 Cal (9-0), #7 Florida (5-1)
Doubles-Order of Finish: 3, 1, 2*

1. #7 Austin/Keegan (UF) def. #6 Manasse/Starr (Cal) 6-4
2. #19 Kuhlman/Woolcock (UF) def. #52 Fabikova/Hauger (Cal) 7-5
3. Chi/Smith (Cal) def. Danilina/Morgan (UF) 6-4

Singles-Order of Finish: 6, 2, 1, 3, 4, 5*

1. #12 Brooke Austin (UF) def. #10 Maegan Manasse (Cal) 6-3, 6-3
2. #6 Belinda Woolcock (UF) def. #5 Klara Fabikova (Cal) 6-2, 6-0
3. #80 Denise Starr def. #72 Josie Kuhlman (UF) 6-3, 6-4
4. Lynn Chi def. #30 Kourtney Keegan (UF) 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-3
5. #96 Olivia Hauger (Cal) def. #88 Brianna Morgan (UF) 4-6, 7-5, 6-4
6. Karla Popovic (Cal) def. #67 Anna Danilina (UF) 6-1, 6-1  

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