With the Gators second tournament of the season over, the young team has found it’s leaders, and they’re two freshmen.
Four of the eight team members went to Jacksonville for the 2014 Bedford Cup held Friday through Sunday. Though none came back with a title, rookie Peggie Porter finished clean in the first two rounds of singles play before dropping her finals match against Miami’s Sinead Lohan (6-2, 6-4).
"We made a nice run to the finals, but unfortunately we didn’t play the way we wanted to today," associate head coach Dave Balogh said in a release. "We got some good matches in this weekend, but there is a lot of work we need to continue to build on."
The other freshman leader, Brooke Austin, came back from the Riviera/ITA All American Championship earlier this month with an automatic bid into the National Indoor Intercollegiate Championships in November. She advanced to the singles semifinals of the weeklong tournament’s main draw until dropping straight sets to No. 7-ranked Channelle Van Nguyen from Southern California, 6-2, 7-5.
Three sophomores also competed in the Bedford Cup singles tournament but none made it to the main draw.
Stefani Stojic won her first two rounds until facing fellow teammate Porter in the third round, when she dropped 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 Sunday morning.
Belinda Woolcock won her first two rounds as well, until she dropped a three-set match against Lohan (6-3, 4-6, 6-1).
Spencer Liang dropped her first round on Friday after playing Yukako Noi from Florida State, 2-6, 6-1, 6-0. Though the Maryland native made it the main draw of consolation singles until defeat from Central Florida’s Caroline Eberhart, 7-6, 6-3.
"The girls played tough today," Balogh said on Saturday. "Having three Gators in the singles semifinals was nice."
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