The Gators secured their first trophy of the season during the weekend at Duke’s Fab Four invitational.
Senior Sofie Oyen and freshman Belinda Woolcock won the doubles bracket at Duke’s Cary Tennis Center in North Carolina on Saturday.
Oyen and Woolcock defeated Duke’s Ester Goldfeld and Marianne Jodoin 8-7, 7-5 to claim UF’s first individual title of the season.
“This was the best we’ve looked in doubles on the first day of the season in my 13 years at Florida,” Thornqvist said Friday. “We moved really well. Our communication was excellent, and we were a constant threat at the net.”
Thornqvist added that he was especially pleased with Oyen and Woolcock, because the two had only one day of practice together prior to the match.
“I thought Sofie and Belinda played really good tennis,” Thornqvist said. “They are doing it the right way. They are imposing their will on the other team.”
Also competing together for the first time were senior Olivia Janowicz and freshman Kourtney Keegan, who defeated Miami’s Kelsey Laurente and Stephanie Wagner 8-2. The pair lost a semifinal match to Alabama’s Erin Routliffe and Danielle Spielmann on Friday.
Oyen advanced to the final match of the singles draw but fell 6-2, 6-4 to UNC’s Haley Carter, the nation’s fourth-ranked freshman.
On Sunday, Janowicz defeated Duke’s Ester Goldfeld in singles to win the third-place bracket. Goldfeld, No. 42 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s preseason rankings, is the second-highest ranked opponent Janowicz has defeated in her career.
“The highlight may have been Olivia’s play,” Thornqvist said Sunday. “This is clearly the best I’ve seen Olivia play. She has much more weight on her ball.”
Keegan earned a victory against Duke’s No. 24 Hanna Mar to take fifth place in her draw. Woolcock also earned a fifth-place spot by defeating William and Mary’s Leeza Nemchinov.
“We’re making a few too many errors at this,” Thornqvist said.
“We’ve just started practice. The consistency will come.”
Follow Erica A. Hernandez on Twitter @EricaAlyssa.
Florida coach Roland Thornqvist (right) congratulates junior Sofie Oyen (left) and former Gator Allie Will (back) during a match against Duke on March 14, 2012.
