Surrounded by her family and teammates, Brianna Morgan received a bouquet of flowers and a framed UF tennis shirt with her name on it.
In return, Morgan left the Ring Tennis Complex with a win.
With Florida only needing one more doubles win to clinch the point, Morgan and her partner Anna Danilina soundly defeated Texas A&M’s Domenica Gonzalez and Ines Deheza to get the Gators on the board early on Senior Day.
With the doubles point, No. 6 Florida (14-2, 9-0 Southeastern Conference) would go on to defeat No. 25 Texas A&M (13-8, 5-5) 4-0 on Saturday to remain undefeated at home and in the SEC.
“Texas A&M is a really good team but I think we made really short work of them today,” coach Roland Thornqvist said in a release. “That is all the credit to everyone in there, who was especially motivated today because of Bri’s senior Day.”
Doubles play started with a quick 6-1 win after No. 5 Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan defeated No. 42 Eva Paalma and Rachel Pierson.
After Morgan and Danilina’s victory, the Gators were ahead 1-0 early, a lead they wouldn’t give up.
Immediately following two rain delays following the doubles point and the start of singles play, the match was moved indoors to the Linder Stadium.
No. 10 Austin was off the court first, defeating No. 32 Saska Gavrilovska 6-2, 6-2.
No. 9 Belinda Woolcock would finish after Austin, getting a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Pierson to put Florida ahead 3-0.
For the second time in indoor matches, Josie Kuhlman clinched the dual match with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Anna Mamalat.
“I am really thankful to have a team here where I don't have to worry whether the team is going to be ready. It is a team that is going to take care of themselves and they are self-motivated. They know how to prepare themselves,” Thornqvist said. “I think you saw that in our play. We were clinical.”
Now that the regular-season home schedule is over, the Gators still have four matches to play on the road. Their next game is Friday at 6 p.m. against Alabama, and then Sunday at 2 p.m. against Auburn.
Contact Jake Dreilinger at jdreilinger@alligator.org and 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.
