Kourtney Keegan had two chances to advance to tournament finals at the USTA Clay Court Invitational in Orlando this weekend.
The freshman failed each time.
Keegan, a Roswell, Ga., native, fell in straight sets during the singles semifinals.
She then teamed up with fellow freshman Stefani Stojic and lost in the doubles semifinals 8-4.
On Thursday, Stojic was the only one of Florida’s three freshmen participating who competed in the first round, as both Keegan and Belinda Woolcock received byes.
Stojic defeated Auburn’s Ashley Kitchen in three sets 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the second round.
There, Stojic faced USTA’s Mia Horvit, winning 7-6 (3), 6-1.
Woolcock won the first set of her match against Tulsa’s Marcelina Cichon 6-2 before Cichon retired. Keegan’s second-round opponent withdrew due to injury.
On Friday, Keegan defeated top-seeded Pleun Burgmans, a sophomore from Auburn, and Texas Tech’s Lynn Kiro, which advanced her to the semifinals of the singles tournament.
Stojic lost her singles match, and Woolcock fell in the quarterfinals.
“The highlight for [Friday] was obviously Kourtney beating the No. 1 seed,” associate coach Dave Balogh said in a release.
“She played tough, smart and handled some pressure situations extremely well.”
Florida had no participants remaining in the tournament after Saturday.
The duo of Stojic and Keegan won their first match against Ines Deheza and Paula Deheza of Texas A&M, but they later fell against Vanderbilt’s Ashleigh Antal and Marie Casares in the semifinals.
On the singles court, Keegan fell to her opponent, USTA’s Peggy Porter, 6-2, 6-1.
Next, the Gators will be split between two separate tournaments. The first will be held in Flushing, N.Y. The USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships will most likely feature Alex Cercone and Brianna Morgan, who are both waiting on an invitation to tournament.
The rest of the Gators will compete at the Dick Vitale Intercollegiate Clay Court Classic in Lakewood Ranch beginning on Nov. 8.
Follow Britnee McCoy on Twitter @TheReporterGirl.
