Two months ago, a younger and much more inexperienced Florida team rolled into Athens, Ga., looking for a win against then No. 11 Georgia.
What they got instead was a 4-2 loss, and a wake up call.
“The doubles point was over in ten minutes,” coach Roland Thornqvist said of the March 16 match against UGA.
But in Saturday’s NCAA tournament quarterfinal match between the two SEC foes, it was a different story.
“We were not going to let that happen today,” the three-time national champion coach said.
Behind its strongest doubles effort of the season, No. 8-seed Florida (23-5) upset No. 1-seed Georgia (24-5) to advance to the NCAA semifinals for the fifth consecutive year.
“Credit to these guys,” Thornqvist said. “[The team] bought in and they were flying left and right and I’m just really, really proud right now because this win ranks way, way up there.”
For the second straight dual match, Olivia Janowicz and Brianna Morgan opened up doubles play with a victory on Court 3, winning 8-2. Next, the No. 27 duo of Sofie Oyen and Belinda Woolcock edged past Georgia’s No. 19 pair of Kate Fuller and Silvia Garcia to secure the doubles point.
“I think all year [Georgia’s] doubles has been the best in the country,” Thornqvist said. “We challenged our team today to step up and play more aggressive doubles, particularly in the first fifteen minutes. And that really set the tone.”
Janowicz dropped the first match of singles play 6-1, 6-2 to even the score at one, but Alexandra Cercone answered with a convincing 6-4, 6-2 victory on Court 4.
No. 16 Morgan gave the Gators a 3-1 lead after defeating No. 6 Lauren Herring 6-4, 7-5. The victory was the highest ranked win of her career.
“It was a really tough match, she was a great competitor,” Morgan said. “I was really just trying to stay focused and do the best I could do to come back and put a point on the board for the team.”
Oyen put the match away with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory to send the Gators to the NCAA tournament’s final four.
“I was telling myself just to fight for every point, keep my errors low, and I think that was the big difference,” Oyen said. “It feels really good, but its not over yet.”
Florida will remain in Athens, Ga. to face No. 5-seed UCLA (25-2) on Monday at 1 p.m.
“This can be an overwhelming place to play, obviously. But we played with no fear, and I thought we really went after [Georgia],” Thornqvist said. “This is the best we’ve played all year.”
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Sofie Oyen returns a ball during Florida’s 7-0 win against Florida State on Feb. 18 at the Ring Tennis Complex.
