Ever since its 6-1 defeat at the hands of Kentucky’s Mami Adachi and Aldila Sutjiadi on March 10, the No. 7 tandem of sophomore Brooke Austin and junior Kourtney Keegan has been unbeatable.
In two doubles matches since Kentucky, Austin and Keegan have cruised through dominant performances, winning against Vanderbilt’s No. 61 Ellie Yates and Astra Sharma 6-1 and Ole Miss’ No. 27 Arianne Hartono and Mai El Kamash 6-2
And on Sunday, they added to that streak by soundly defeating Mississippi State’s No. 34 Madison Harrison and Georgina Patrasc 6-0.
The victory fueled a solid overall showing by No. 13 Florida (11-2, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) against a ranked opponent on the road, as it defeated No. 22 Mississippi State (11-5, 2-4 SEC) 4-0 for its sixth-straight win.
"We played another really good match from start to finish. We showed real toughness again at times today," coach Roland Thornqvist said in a release. "Doubles was once more really good on all three courts. We got off to quick starts in singles."
Florida jumped out to an early lead with strong doubles play.
Austin and Keegan got the ball rolling with their quick sweep over their Bulldogs opponent.
Soon after, No. 58 sophomore Anna Danilina and senior Brianna Morgan got the job done, defeating Anastasia Rentouli and Kristina Vozniak 6-1 to earn the doubles point for Florida.
Florida kept the intensity in singles play, as No. 15 Austin defeated No. 9 Jasmine Lee 6-2, 6-2 to give the Gators a 2-0 lead.
No. 81 Danilina took the first set of her match against Vozniak 6-2.
In the end, the Moscow, Russia, native took the victory 6-4 and put the Gators within one point of a victory.
The clinching match would come from junior Spencer Liang. Facing Jennifer Brown, Liang earned the win for Florida, 6-3, 6-3.
"We are playing with a lot of intelligence and heart," Thornqvist said. "We showed a lot of toughness even in matches where we were not playing great and finding ways to get back in the match and eventually turn the match around."
During Florida’s sixth-game winning streak, the Gators have faced three top-25 teams, including reigning national champion Vanderbilt.
The Gators close out their road trip with a visit to Columbia, South Carolina, to take on the Gamecocks at the Carolina Tennis Center on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Contact Jake Dreilinger at jdreilinger@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @DreilingerJake.
UF's Kourtney Keegan hits the ball during Florida's 6-1 win over USF on Jan. 27 at the Ring Tennis Complex.
