The Gators walked onto the courts at the Ring Tennis Complex on Friday having won their last 127 dual-matches at home.
They made it 128 before long.
No. 4 Florida (14-4, 6-2 Southeastern Conference) swept visiting Arkansas (12-11, 2-7 SEC) 4-0 in the Gators’ 12th shutout of the season.
The match was called off before doubles play was reached, as each Florida player won in straight sets to end the game.
Kourtney Keegan had a solid outing on Court 5, winning 6-1, 6-1 to give the Gators a 1-0 lead. Olivia Janowicz was the next to score with a 6-1, 6-2 victory. Alexandra Cercone and Sofie Oyen rounded out the fast-paced match, winning 6-0, 6-2 and 6-4, 6-2, respectively.
“I thought we played really well,” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “The freshmen looked good, Kourtney [was] obviously clean as a whistle, and I thought Stefani [Stojic] did a really good job hanging on to the ball.”
While she wasn’t able to finish, Brianna Morgan played her third consecutive singles match on Court 1, ahead of seniors Janowicz and Cercone. It was also only the third time in her collegiate career Morgan played on the show court.
“I try to do the same thing I do whether I’m playing on Court 2, 1, whatever,” the sophomore said. “I just try and stick to the same thing.”
Before the season, Morgan wasn’t able to practice much because of a shoulder injury. At the time, Thornqvist stated that she would play her best tennis later in the year after she had an opportunity to practice for an extended period. The coach said when that time came, Morgan would be able to beat anyone in the nation.
Is that time now?
“Yeah, I think so,” Thornqvist said. “I think her offense is really getting better and that’s certainly helping her play at the No. 1 spot. But she’s always been fast, she’s a great athlete, she [has] great ground strokes. But like I said, moving forward she’s getting better now.”
Morgan also played at the one position against Alabama where she won in straight sets, but the Gators lost.
“I feel like there’s a big difference between playing at someone else’s home rather than playing at a site that’s neutral,” Morgan said. “I’m not saying that the crowd really gets to us, but it’s a different atmosphere.”
The home crowd was a welcome sight for the Gators after returning from the disheartening loss at Alabama. After having spent the last two weeks on the road, Florida is preparing for the second match of its home stand when it plays LSU on Sunday.
“It was a tough week in many aspects but our seniors did a really good job of guiding us,” Thornqvist said. “I was very happy to see that we played at this level today after the Alabama loss.”
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @ibcohen5.
Kourtney Keegan swings at the ball during Florida’s 7-0 win against Florida State on Feb. 18 at the Ring Tennis Complex.
