Gators Win ITA National Indoor Championship!

Monday, February 13

New Haven, CT

11 am

Florida Gators

North Carolina

Freshman Ingrid Neel raises her arms in victory after clinching the championship.

Gators Win ITA National Indoor Championship!

Monday, February 13, 2017 | Women's Tennis

Final Draw

The Indoor title is the seventh in program history and its first since 1999.

By: Kathy Cafazzo

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – It was No. 1 Florida versus No. 2 North Carolina for the ITA National Team Indoor Championship.

The Gators - certainly not known for playing indoors that often - living within the borders of the "Sunshine State." Their last of six National Team Indoor titles coming in 1999, granted the Gators were making just their sixth appearance at the event since that victory.

Florida turned to its trademark toughness and out-dueled the Tar Heels, 4-2, for the championship held at Yale University's Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center.

The clinching match, however, came down to a pair of Rochester, Minnesota-based youngsters, with Florida freshman Ingrid Neel and UNC sophomore Jessie Aney squaring off on court three.

The two split sets and entered a deciding third, where Neel jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Aney held and then broke, as she headed to the baseline trying to get the match back on-serve. She won the first two points before Neel dug deep and ripped off four straight points to earn the break and a 5-3 lead.

Aney again jumped out quickly, winning the first two points of the ninth game. In nearly identical fashion to the previous game, Neel won the next four points on her serve to win the match, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, and clinch the championship for the Gators.

It would have been easy for the Gator rookie to slip, having just enrolled at UF in January and only a handful of collegiate matches under her belt. The only other match still on-court when she was playing on Monday was at the No. 1 spot, where Belinda Woolcock was trailing 4-0 in the third set. It was looking as if Neel had to win her match if the Gators were to capture the title.

Florida held control of the dual match early, capturing the doubles point and taking a quick 2-0 lead after junior All-American Brooke Austin dominated court five, 6-1, 6-1.

UNC got on the board with a win on court two, but senior Kourtney Keegan battled back after dropping her first set to win the 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 decision and give Florida a 3-1 lead in the team scoring.

Shortly afterwards, Josie Kuhlman dropped her second-set tiebreak after she lost the first and the Tar Heels inched closer at 3-2.

All eyes turned to those final two courts and set the stage for Neel's heroics.

Postmatch with UF Head Coach Roland Thornqvist via FloTennis:
"This has been a long-time coming. We've played well at the Indoors before, but this is a special group. I had a feeling that we had a chance just by the way we hit the ball. You never know until the very, very end. This North Carolina team is a team used to winning. They've won here a couple times before so you could tell it was going to be hard to go all the way through and get it done. Credit to our players. They were resilient and our freshman at the end was just remarkable."

On transitioning from playing outdoors to indoors:
"Just by playing and competing in this great environment against these great teams. Drawing Michigan first, I knew, was going to be really difficult and it proved to be. We lost the doubles point. We also found our legs a little bit and believed we could play in here because they really come at you. We played better against Texas Tech and then last night (vs. Georgia) so today was a culmination of each day getting better and better."

On winning his first National Team Indoor title:
"This means a lot. It means a lot to our players, you can tell that. Any time you can bring home a trophy of this kind it means a lot. A lot of hard work goes into it. It's going to be interesting now because we have another huge weekend next weekend at home against the defending national champion and the national runner-up from last year. There isn't much time for us to bask in our glory. We'll take a couple days off but we have to get right back on the drawing board."

Postmatch with UF Associate Head Coach Dave Balogh via FloTennis:
"It's a great feeling, I'm just so happy for (the players). They've been so close so many times. These guys to the right things in a match, in practice, on the court, off the court. I wanted it for them so badly and I'm glad they got it."

On freshman Ingrid Neel clinching the match:
"The kid is amazing. We're so blessed to have her. I love her to death and not just on the court. Off the court, she is amazing. She makes everyone in the locker room happy. She makes everyone on the court better. What she did out there – coming in January. Her poise and composure she played with was just spectacular. I was impressed."

Florida's Road to the Championship

First Round def. No. 13 Michigan, 4-1
Quarterfinals def. No. 12 Texas Tech, 4-1
Semifinals def. No. 6 Georgia 4-0
Final def. No. 2 North Carolina, 4-2

Florida's History at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships

All-time record: 52-13
The Gators are 7-5 all-time in NTIC Final matches
Florida improved to 12-2 all-time in NTIC Semifinal matches
This was Florida's 17th all-time appearance in the national event, but just its second in the last six years.
The Gators now have won the championship seven times, with the previous last title coming in 1998-99. Since that year, Florida has competed in the event just five times.
The last time the Gators were at the NTIC was in 2014-15 and the squad reached the semifinals.

Florida's Seven ITA NTIC Titles Years

1987-88
1990-91
1991-92
1995-96
1996-97
1998-99
2016-17

UF's Five Runner-Up Finishes Years

1988-89
1992-93
1993-94
2002-03
2010-11

Quick Event Overview

The ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championship is in its 30th year of existence.
Fifteen teams qualified for the event by winning their respective 2017 ITA Kick-Off Weekend four-team regional, while Yale received an automatic bid as the host site.
The teams will compete in a single-elimination tournament over a four-day span to crown a national indoor champion.

2017 ITA National Team Indoor Championships – Final
Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center * New Haven, CT
Monday, February 13, 2017
No. 1 Florida vs. No. 2 North Carolina

Final Score: Florida d. North Carolina, 4-2

Doubles
1. Brooke Austin/Kourtney Keegan (18), UF vs. H. Carter/S. Daavettila, UNC 4-4 DNF
2. Anna Danilina/Ingrid Neel (22), UF d. J. Aney/C. Vazquez (42), UNC 6-2*
3. Belinda Woolcock/Josie Kuhlman (17), UF d. R. James Baker/C. Ouellet-Pizer, UNC 6-0

Singles
1. Belinda Woolcock (40), UF vs. Hayley Carter (5), UNC – 6-7 (1), 6-1, 0-4 DNF
2. Sara Daavettila (2), UNC d. Anna Danilina (23), UF 6-1, 6-2
3. Ingrid Neel (45), UF d. Jessie Aney (17), UNC 6-4, 1-6, 6-3*
4. Alexa Graham (48), UNC d. Josie Kuhlman (19), UF 6-3, 7-6 (1)
5. Brooke Austin, UF d. Chloe Ouellet-Pizer, UNC 6-1, 6-1
6. Kourtney Keegan (30), UF d. Cassandra Vazquez, UNC 4-6, 6-1, 6-1

Order of Finish: D – 3, 2*; S – 5, 2, 6, 4, 3*
Team Ranking: Florida – 1; North Carolina – 2
Updated Records: Florida 7-0; North Carolina 7-1

What's Next for the Gators

What: it's a HUGE weekend for the Gators, February 18-19
Who: No. 5 Oklahoma State and No. 4 Stanford
When: Sat., Feb. 18 vs. Oklahoma State (4 pm); Sun., Feb. 19 vs. Stanford (12 Noon)
Where: Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex * Gainesville, Fla.
Admission: FREE
Worth Noting: The Gators put the nation's longest active home win streak by any NCAA Division I team in any sport on the line! Florida has won 161 consecutive home matches, which includes 26 wins in SEC and NCAA Tournament matches. Stanford is the reigning NCAA champion, while Oklahoma State was the runner-up last year.