In her final season at Florida, senior Brianna Morgan has been through it all.
She’s played in the game’s final match to determine the winner. She’s played in tiebreakers and in third sets.
After Friday’s match, the senior can now say she clinched a match for the Southeastern Conference title.
After her 6-3, 6-3 victory over Georgia’s Silvia Garcia, No. 4 Florida (17-2, 12-0 SEC) swept UGA (17-3, 10-2 SEC) to become SEC champions.
Friday marked the Gators’ 29th SEC title, 11 of which have come under coach Roland Thornqvist.
“It was so rewarding to see the poise at which we competed today,” Thornqvist said. “Our players did an amazing job of staying focused and staying together.”
The match started off typically for the Gators in doubles play.
The No. 7 duo of Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan defeated No. 20 Ellen Perez and Mariana Gould 6-2. Anna Danilina and Morgan took the doubles point with a 6-3 victory over Caroline Brinson and Laura Patterson to give the Gators a 1-0 lead.
In singles, Danilina was the first one off the court, quickly defeating Patterson 6-3, 6-0 to put Florida ahead by two.
Keegan extend the Gators’ lead to three with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Brinson.
Only one match separated Florida from the SEC title.
And Morgan got the job done.
Her victory meant much more to the team than just clinching the match.
“It was probably the best I have seen our team glue together and play at a high level on the road,” Thornqvist said. “It has been a long year. We have put in a lot of hard work and at this point, we are one match away from SEC perfection.”
Florida has one match remaining — a road match against Tennessee on Sunday at 1 p.m.— but its focus will be geared toward the SEC Tournament, beginning April 20 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Contact Jake Dreilinger at jdreilinger@alligator.org and you can follow him on Twitter @DreilingerJake.
UF’s Brianna Morgan returns a serve during Florida’s win over USF on Jan. 27, 2016, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
