In an impressive showing in both doubles and singles, Kourtney Keegan contributed to the Gators success on Thursday.
In doubles, her team was the first to finish, getting the job done against ranked opponents.
But even more impressive was her singles play.
Keegan didn’t drop a game in her first set on her way to a 6-0, 6-3 victory.
“I think one of the most important things you have to do is to stay on your toes, keep your feet moving and stay on your game,” Keegan said. “It’s really easy to kind of let down after winning 6-0, and (my opponent) was able to play much better in the second set so I had to stay on my game the whole time.”
No. 6 Florida defeated No. 15 LSU 6-1 on Thursday at the Ring Tennis Complex.
The Gators took the doubles point despite falling behind early on all three courts.
The No. 5 tandem of Brooke Austin and Keegan found themselves behind 3-0 to Joana Vale Costa and Jessica Golovin. But the duo would bounce back, taking the next six games to win 6-3.
After taking a 1-0 lead, the No. 30 duo of Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock would drop the next three games. They made up the deficit to tie the match, but the rest of the games were back and forth. In the end, the Gator team won 6-4 to give Florida a 1-0 lead.
No. 43 Keegan began singles play with a dominant performance, defeating Skylar Kuykendall 6-0, 6-3.
The rest of the singles matches would be much closer.
LSU’s Abby Owens answered Keegan’s point with a victory of her own, defeating No. 82 Kuhlman 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 to put the score at 2-1 in favor of Florida.
No. 87 Anna Danilina took control of her match against Ella Taylor early, winning the first set 6-3. The second set was much closer with five ties, but the sophomore from Moscow, Russia, never gave up the lead, winning set two 7-6.
No. 10 Austin jumped out to an early first set 6-3 victory, but dropped the second set 6-2 to No. 19 Vale Costa. The third set consisted of three ties, and Austin couldn’t take the lead until the end. Tied at 5-5, the sophomore would take the next two games, winning her match 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 and clinching the dual match for the Gators.
No. 9 Woolcock took her match against No. 48 Golovin 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 after falling behind in the first set.
No. 101 Brianna Morgan would close out singles play with a hard-fought victory, defeating Ryann Foster 7-5, 6-7, 1-0.
“Overall in singles we’re really durable now, I'm really pleased with how we handle long points, long games and long sets,” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We look tough, we make good decisions at the end of long games, too. Our percentage of no-ad points is going up, and a part of that is we are more physical. We’re fitter, and we believe we are more fit, I think that has something to do with it.”
The Gators get limited rest as they go up against No. 25 Texas A&M on Saturday at 1 p.m in their regular-season home finale.
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.
