A change in venue could not disrupt the Gators’ hot streak.
For the fourth time in as many games, No. 2 Florida (4-0) held its opponent scoreless in a 7-0 win over Baylor (6-1). The first road game of the season proved to be no issue for the Gators as they extended their winning streak to four.
“I thought we played really well today,” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “It was a true test for our three freshmen to play on the road and for the most part, we answered the bell really, really well.”
Baylor’s crowd noise was not able to rattle Florida’s freshmen, who played in their first collegiate road game. Freshman Kourtney Keegan and senior Olivia Janowicz won the first doubles match in a 6-0 sweep. Soon after, the No. 32 duo of freshman Belinda Woolcock and senior Sofie Oyen won 6-3 to secure the doubles point.
“[Baylor] had a big crowd and it was indoors. I thought we handled ourselves with great poise and competed really well,” Thornqvist said.
The Gators quickly went up 6-0, as five of the six players needed only two sets to win their match. Woolcock won the first singles match 6-0, 6-2, followed by wins from Oyen, Alexandra Cercone, Brianna Morgan and Keegan.
Janowicz continued to gain experience in her third time playing at one position. The senior lost her first set 2-6, but then she rallied 7-6, 10-3 to take the match point.
“It came down to a tiebreaker in the third on Olivia’s court,” Thornqvist said. “I was really proud to see that when she wasn’t winning that she fought with everything she had to claw her way back into the second set. She fought through that and forced a tiebreaker third set and won that.”
Florida has a week off before traveling to Charlottesville, Va., to compete in the National Team Indoor Championships held Friday to Feb. 10.
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @ibcohen5
