After its first match in Athens, Georgia, the Gators women’s tennis team already knows the level of competition that lies ahead. On Friday night, Florida blanked Texas A&M 4-0 to advance to the Elite 8.
In Florida’s 14th sweep of the season, the match was a lot closer than what the score indicates. The Gators started off slow, taking some time to warm up to the Aggies’ aggressive style of play. Anna Danilina and Ingrid Neel got off the doubles court first for Florida with a 6-2 win against A&M’s Rachel Pierson and Rutuja Bhosale.
The Aggies’ Eva Paalma and Domenica Gonzalez then took their set 6-3 over Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan.
Running the risk of losing the doubles point for only the fourth time this season, the match on court three went into a tiebreaker set at 6 all. Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock were able to come out on top, winning 7-6 over Saska Gavrilovska and Stefania Hristov.
“We had courage and we went for it,” coach Roland Thornqvist said in a release. “I think that is how you win big meets.”
While doubles play was too close for Florida’s comfort, it found its footing in singles play. Danilina was first off the court with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Saska Gavrilovska to put the Gators up 2-0 overall.
Woolcock was next off the court, taking her match 6-0, 6-4 over Pierson. Keegan then punctuated the Gator’s strong singles play with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Macarena Olivares to give the Florida the 4-0 win.
“Overall I am really proud,” Thornqvist said in a release, “we fought hard with great energy and actually played pretty well too against a very gritty and much improved Texas A&M team."
Just as they did with the Aggies, the Gators will face another familiar foe in the Elite 8 against Oklahoma State.
Florida beat the then-No. 6 Cowgirls 4-2 in February in the only regular-season match where it lost the doubles point. Thornqvist attributed some of the slow start in that game to the hangover from winning the National Indoor Championship the week before.
Now, following a big win in the NCAA tournament, Oklahoma State will look to capitalize on that error again.
Florida will play its rematch with No. 9 Oklahoma State on Sunday at 4 p.m.
Contact Spencer Thompson at sthompson@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @spencemthompson.
Anna Danilina returns a backhand during Florida's 4-2 win against Oklahoma State on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
