For the fifth consecutive year, the Gators will be heading to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals.
No. 8-seed Florida (22-5) swept No. 9-seed Vanderbilt (21-7) 4-0 for the second time this season on Thursday night.
“I thought we came out of the gates and played great doubles. I was very pleased with that on all three courts,” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We obviously knew Vanderbilt from playing them during the regular season, so we knew it was going to be a tough, tough contest.”
Despite limited playing time together, both of UF’s newly formed doubles teams won to capture the doubles point. Brianna Morgan and Olivia Janowicz were the first to finish, winning 8-2 on Court 3. Soon after, Alexandra Cercone and Kourtney Keegan grabbed an 8-4 victory over VU’s No. 20 duo of Lauren Mira and Courtney Colton on Court 1.
“We had a tough one against OSU and I think we kind of fixed all of the little rough patches that we had,” Janowicz said of her and Morgan’s doubles match. “We wanted to cross more than usual and be the more aggressive team, and I think we figured it out this time.”
No. 14 Janowicz defeated the Commodore’s No. 48 Frances Altick 6-2, 6-0 to begin singles play and put Florida up 2-0.
Belinda Woolcock increased the lead to three with a 6-2, 6-2 victory on Court 5. The freshman failed to finish her last singles match against Oklahoma State and was determined to avoid a repeat performance.
“I really just wanted to get a good start today,” Woolcock said. “I had a tough one last week. Today I wanted to start off fresh, start solid, and really get in my opponents head that I was going to stay in each point and work for everything.”
Morgan followed with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory on the show court to clinch the match against Vanderbilt for the second time this season.
“She’s getting better and better,” Thornqvist said of Morgan. “When her ground strokes are clicking she’s about as good as anybody here.”
Florida will face No. 1-seed Georgia on Saturday for a chance to advance to the semifinals. UGA defeated UF 4-2 in their last matchup on March 16.
“This is a big deal,” Janowicz said. “We’re really excited and we’re going to keep it rolling for the rest of the tournament.”
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @ibcohen5
Brianna Morgan swings at the ball during Florida’s 4-0 win against Harvard on Jan. 26 at the Ring Tennis Complex.
