Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The No. 18 University of Florida women's tennis team had waited for a rematch with the reigning NCAA Champions since last May. This afternoon, the rematch happened in Gainesville and the Gators defeated the No. 5 Vanderbilt Commodores, 4-2 in front of over 600 fans at the Ring Tennis Complex. Sophomore Josie Kuhlman, who was in the deciding match last May, clinched the victory for Florida on court five.

Doubles action saw UF secure the doubles point with victories on court one and three. The No. 7-ranked tandem of Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan cruised to a 6-1 win over the No. 61-ranked pairing of Ellie Yates and Astra Sharma. Anna Danilina and Brianna Morgan clinched early lead for UF with a 6-4 win over Fernanda Contreras and Sydney Campbell.

In singles play, no team pull away throughout the match. Danilina was the first off the court defeating Ellie Yates, 6-2, 6-1. No. 33-ranked Astra Sharma defeated junior Belinda Woolcock to give the Commodores their first point and bring the match to 2-1 in favor of Florida. Senior Morgan would push the lead to 3-1 with a 6-4, 6-1 win on four over Georgina Sellyn.

The Dores would regain a point from Frances Altick's win over Keegan on two and the match would sit at 3-2 still in favor of Florida. On court five, Kuhlman and
Fernanda Contreras would go back and forth in the first set with the Gators pulling ahead to take the set, 7-5. The second set was more business-like for the Gator sophomore. Kuhlman would take the second set, 6-2 and give Florida their match victory.

UF will now go on the road in SEC play and head to the state of Mississippi for a pair of contests next weekend. The Gators will face Ole Miss on Friday and then Mississippi State on Sunday.



Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On today's match victory…
"We knew it was going to be tough. Last year, we had a hard time of closing them out. It is a team that won't go away and we knew we have to battle until the absolute last ball. I was really pleased though. We played really well in doubles. We have a lot of confidence in our doubles and despite losing it on Thursday, we have lot of confidence in them this year.
 
We split first sets in singles. We won three and they won three. We were lucky to run away with some second sets, especially on four, five and six. We opened up some expansive leads and we were able to hold on there. I was also happy to see Brooke split there. Overall, I am really, really happy. It was a great win over a really tough team"
 
Final Results
#18 Florida 4, #5 Vanderbilt 2
Doubles-Order of Finish: 1, 3*

1. #7 Austin/Keegan (UF) def. #61 Yates/Sharma (VU) 6-1
2. #22 Kuhlman/Woolcock (UF) vs. Colton/Altick (VU) 4-4, susp.
3. #58 Danilina/Morgan (UF) def. Contreras/Campbell (VU) 6-4

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

1. #15 Brooke Austin (UF) vs. #24 Sydney Campbell (VU) 4-6, 7-6(5), susp.
2. #33 Astra Sharma (VU) def. #5 Belinda Woolcock (UF)  6-3, 6-2
3. #16 Frances Altick (VU) def. #37 Kourtney Keegan (UF)  6-3, 6-3
4. #121 Brianna Morgan (UF) def. Georgina Sellyn (VU) 6-4, 6-1
5. #108 Josie Kuhlman (UF) def. Fernanda Contreras (VU) 7-5, 6-2
6. #81 Anna Danilina (UF) def. Ellie Yates (VU) 6-2, 6-1

Records: Florida (9-2) Vanderbilt (8-4)
Attendance: 607
 
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