Florida's women's tennis team has made difficult matches look easy
all season.
The
No. 2 overall seed Gators did just that on Friday when they beat
the Clemson Tigers 4-1 in a match that was much more tightly
contested than the score indicated
Florida played resiliently again Sunday in the NCAA Tournament
quarterfinals, gutting out a 4-1 win over rival Miami — despite the
result being in question even towards the end.
With the victory, Florida advanced to the NCAA semifinals to face
No. 6 overall seed UCLA, which beat No. 3-seeded Duke on
Sunday.
"Today was pretty much the same as Clemson," Thornqvist said,
referring to the toughness of the match. "We went three sets at a
bunch of different places, and it was pretty much in doubt all the
way up until the end."
The
Gators came out firing on all cylinders in doubles, taking wins on
Courts 2 and 3 to wrap up the point. Strong doubles play proved to
be a key again for Florida as it was challenged in singles for the
second match in a row.
Sophomore Allie Will and freshman Olivia Janowicz had the only easy
singles wins for the Gators, as both won in straight sets on Courts
1 and 6, respectively.
Florida's Sofie Oyen lost her match on Court 3, and even though the
team was up 3-1, the Gators were in trouble. Lauren Embree trailed
in her match on Court 2 while Joanna Mather and Alex Cercone were
in tight third sets on Courts 4 and 5.
"It's always tough to play Miami, they're an outdoor team built
exactly like we are," Thornqvist said. "They run well, and I was
actually impressed with how their freshmen improved since we played
them at the [ITA Indoor Championships]."
Cercone finally ended up pulling out a comeback win over Miami's
Danielle Mills, beating her 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 even after being down 5-3
in the third set.
Facing a loss, Cercone said her focus was on not letting Mills get
to a match point.
"That was my main focus throughout that whole game," Cercone said.
"I tried to stay ahead the whole game. Once I won that game to make
it 5-4, I just stuck with it and knew I could pull it out."
"[Cercone] has been phenomenal in the clutch," Thornqvist said.
"When it gets tight she's not afraid at all. She plays smart and
with great determination, which is not easy for first-year players
to do."
It
was the second straight match-clinching win for Cercone, as the
performances by her and Janowicz exemplified the strong play
Thornqvist was seeking from his freshmen.
With Cercone pulling out the comeback to help Florida advance, the
Gators proved again they can win from any spot on their lineup.
"We
aren't relying on the same three players to win every time,"
Thornqvist said. "We have six players who can win and that gives
everybody great comfort when they play. One difference I'm noticing
between last year and this year is that we never really got
gut-checked until the final match last year. We've had to respond
two matches in a row and we've done it both times.”
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