Tuesday, March 14
USTA National Campus * Orlando, FL
6:00 PM
Florida Gators
4
vs
1
Ohio State
Kourtney Keegan provided the clinching dual match victory.
Gators Win Again in 1 vs. 2, Down Ohio State
Tuesday, March 14, 2017 | Women's Tennis
Tuesday's match featured the nation's top two-ranked teams.
ORLANDO, Fla. – The top-ranked Gators have made the rounds against some of the nation's top teams and Tuesday evening they passed another stern test with a 4-1 win against No. 2 Ohio State in a challenge that was part of the USTA College MatchDay series held at the USTA National Campus in front of 642 fans.
Florida overcame another swirling, windy evening and pushed forward all night – something that UF head coach Roland Thornqvist thought was a key to tonight's victory.
The Gators' doubles play also gave them the early edge, as Florida captured wins on courts one and three to earn the first point of the dual match.
In singles play, Ingrid Neel, Anna Danilina and Josie Kuhlman quickly won the first set of their respective singles matches and Florida seemed to be making quick work of the Buckeyes.
Team tennis, however, is full of momentum shifts and that's exactly what happened as matches began to move into the second set. As Kourtney Keegan won her first set, Ohio State took the opening sets on the remaining two courts.
Neel was the first to finish her match, punching through on her fifth match-point win her eighth consecutive singles match – a 6-2, 6-3 decision - and give Florida a 2-0 lead.
Danilina followed shortly afterwards with a 6-2, 7-5 victory and put the Gators within one more win of taking the dual match.
Woolcock dropped her match 6-3, 6-1 to top-ranked Francesca Di Lorenzo and the Buckeyes started to shift the momentum by taking a 3-0 lead in the third set on court five and forcing a third set on court four.
Keegan, however, stepped up for her ninth straight singles win with a 6-4, 6-2 victory to provide the clinching dual match decision.
News & Notes from the Net:
Florida Has Been Tested This Year
Individual Numbers of Note
Career Numbers
Postmatch with UF Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
Overall thoughts on the match:
"It was tough to play tonight in swirling, 20-mile-an-hour winds. In singles, I was really pleased with how we moved forward despite the wind. I thought we had a pretty conservative, simple game plan to start and it looked to me like we were the only team that was able to move forward and perhaps that was a big difference, especially in singles today.
"Overall, I was really pleased. It was a tough day to play beautiful tennis. I'm glad that we can have days like these when our goal is to be efficient and not beautiful in the way we play and then you become an effective team and that's what happened today."
On similar windy conditions last weekend at Texas A&M helping to prep for this match:
"I do. Our team is also a little older and we've been through it in that we don't panic. We're very lucid, we think our way through situations and today you saw them do that. To Ohio State's credit, they started inching their way back and made it dicey there at the end. I just like the way we're playing our way forward to finish. We continued to do what got us our leads in the first place to close out matches and that's really important."
On doubles and winning the big points:
"Our team on court one had laser focus today and that's something we talked about after the South Carolina match. We played at a really high level. The same for our team on court three. Aside from the second game of that match, they had an almost perfect performance."
On the experience of College MatchDay and the USTA National Campus:
"It was great. The USTA was first class in what they did here. This facility is amazing. It wouldn't shock me if this became a place that hosts the NCAA Tournament because you have everything here that you need to run a successful, large event. The fact that we got to play with TV cameras around on the court added some nerves to it and we were able to whether that. There were a lot of positives from today."
On playing host to Georgia on Friday:
"We played them at the National Team Indoor Championships earlier this season and it was a nail-bitter. Our matches are always tight like that. There is always extra emotion. I'm glad to be playing this many big matches already this season. We're going to try and treat Friday's match like just another match and play at the highest level possible. We're certainly happy to get back home and play in front of our fans."
Women's College Tennis
No. 1 Florida vs. No. 2 Ohio State
USTA National Campus * Orlando, Fla.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Final Score: Florida 4, Ohio State 1
Doubles (order of finish: 3, 1*)
1- #15 Brooke Austin/Kourtney Keegan (UF) d. #63 Francesca Di Lorenzo/Anna Sanford, OSU, 7-5*
2- #11 Anna Danilina/Ingrid Neel (UF) vs. #31 Gabriella De Santis/Sandy Niehaus (OSU), 5-5 DNF
3- #36 Josie Kuhlman/Belinda Woolcock (UF) d. Miho Kowase/Ferny Angeles Paz (OSU), 6-3
Singles (order of finish: 2, 3, 1, 6*)
1 - #1 Francesca Di Lorenzo (OSU) d. #19 Belinda Woolcock (UF), 6-3, 6-1
2- #14 Ingrid Neel (UF) d. #41 Gabriella De Santis (OSU), 6-2, 6-3
3- #22 Anna Danilina (UF) d. #61 Anna Sanford (OSU) 6-2, 7-5
4- #12 Josie Kuhlman (UF) vs. #54 Sandy Niehaus (OSU) 6-1, 4-6 DNF
5- #125 Brooke Austin (UF) vs. #53 Miho Kowase (OSU) 3-6, 6-1, 0-3 DNF
6- #35 Kourtney Keegan (UF) d. Ferny Angeles Paz (OSU), 6-4, 6-2*
Records: Florida 13-0; Ohio State 14-2
What's Next for the Gators
Gator Pronunciations
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Florida overcame another swirling, windy evening and pushed forward all night – something that UF head coach Roland Thornqvist thought was a key to tonight's victory.
The Gators' doubles play also gave them the early edge, as Florida captured wins on courts one and three to earn the first point of the dual match.
In singles play, Ingrid Neel, Anna Danilina and Josie Kuhlman quickly won the first set of their respective singles matches and Florida seemed to be making quick work of the Buckeyes.
Team tennis, however, is full of momentum shifts and that's exactly what happened as matches began to move into the second set. As Kourtney Keegan won her first set, Ohio State took the opening sets on the remaining two courts.
Neel was the first to finish her match, punching through on her fifth match-point win her eighth consecutive singles match – a 6-2, 6-3 decision - and give Florida a 2-0 lead.
Danilina followed shortly afterwards with a 6-2, 7-5 victory and put the Gators within one more win of taking the dual match.
Woolcock dropped her match 6-3, 6-1 to top-ranked Francesca Di Lorenzo and the Buckeyes started to shift the momentum by taking a 3-0 lead in the third set on court five and forcing a third set on court four.
Keegan, however, stepped up for her ninth straight singles win with a 6-4, 6-2 victory to provide the clinching dual match decision.
News & Notes from the Net:
- Tonight's match marked the second time this season Florida was involved in a No. 1 vs. No. 2 match; the other was a 4-2 Gator win against then-No. 2 North Carolina in the final of the National Team Indoor Championships on February 13.
- This also marked the 26th time in program history that Florida was involved in a match featuring the nation's top two ranked teams – 15-11 overall record in those matches.
- The win was UF's 26th straight regular-season victory – a run that began with a 7-0 decision against Arkansas on March 3, 2016.
- UF improved to 3-0 all-time against Ohio State.
Florida Has Been Tested This Year
- Six of Florida's 13 dual matches have been against teams ranked in the top six of the national ranking.
- UF's record in those matches: 2-0 at Home; 1-0 Away; 3-0 Neutral Site
Individual Numbers of Note
- Anna Danilina has won her last 4 singles matches
- Kourtney Keegan has won her last 9 singles matches
- Ingrid Neel has won her last 8 singles matches
- The doubles team of Kuhlman/Woolcock has won its last 4 matches
Career Numbers
- Kourtney Keegan has won 107 career doubles matches – a number that moves her into sole possession of 10th in program history (next is Dawn Buth with 109 wins)
Postmatch with UF Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
Overall thoughts on the match:
"It was tough to play tonight in swirling, 20-mile-an-hour winds. In singles, I was really pleased with how we moved forward despite the wind. I thought we had a pretty conservative, simple game plan to start and it looked to me like we were the only team that was able to move forward and perhaps that was a big difference, especially in singles today.
"Overall, I was really pleased. It was a tough day to play beautiful tennis. I'm glad that we can have days like these when our goal is to be efficient and not beautiful in the way we play and then you become an effective team and that's what happened today."
On similar windy conditions last weekend at Texas A&M helping to prep for this match:
"I do. Our team is also a little older and we've been through it in that we don't panic. We're very lucid, we think our way through situations and today you saw them do that. To Ohio State's credit, they started inching their way back and made it dicey there at the end. I just like the way we're playing our way forward to finish. We continued to do what got us our leads in the first place to close out matches and that's really important."
On doubles and winning the big points:
"Our team on court one had laser focus today and that's something we talked about after the South Carolina match. We played at a really high level. The same for our team on court three. Aside from the second game of that match, they had an almost perfect performance."
On the experience of College MatchDay and the USTA National Campus:
"It was great. The USTA was first class in what they did here. This facility is amazing. It wouldn't shock me if this became a place that hosts the NCAA Tournament because you have everything here that you need to run a successful, large event. The fact that we got to play with TV cameras around on the court added some nerves to it and we were able to whether that. There were a lot of positives from today."
On playing host to Georgia on Friday:
"We played them at the National Team Indoor Championships earlier this season and it was a nail-bitter. Our matches are always tight like that. There is always extra emotion. I'm glad to be playing this many big matches already this season. We're going to try and treat Friday's match like just another match and play at the highest level possible. We're certainly happy to get back home and play in front of our fans."
Women's College Tennis
No. 1 Florida vs. No. 2 Ohio State
USTA National Campus * Orlando, Fla.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Final Score: Florida 4, Ohio State 1
Doubles (order of finish: 3, 1*)
1- #15 Brooke Austin/Kourtney Keegan (UF) d. #63 Francesca Di Lorenzo/Anna Sanford, OSU, 7-5*
2- #11 Anna Danilina/Ingrid Neel (UF) vs. #31 Gabriella De Santis/Sandy Niehaus (OSU), 5-5 DNF
3- #36 Josie Kuhlman/Belinda Woolcock (UF) d. Miho Kowase/Ferny Angeles Paz (OSU), 6-3
Singles (order of finish: 2, 3, 1, 6*)
1 - #1 Francesca Di Lorenzo (OSU) d. #19 Belinda Woolcock (UF), 6-3, 6-1
2- #14 Ingrid Neel (UF) d. #41 Gabriella De Santis (OSU), 6-2, 6-3
3- #22 Anna Danilina (UF) d. #61 Anna Sanford (OSU) 6-2, 7-5
4- #12 Josie Kuhlman (UF) vs. #54 Sandy Niehaus (OSU) 6-1, 4-6 DNF
5- #125 Brooke Austin (UF) vs. #53 Miho Kowase (OSU) 3-6, 6-1, 0-3 DNF
6- #35 Kourtney Keegan (UF) d. Ferny Angeles Paz (OSU), 6-4, 6-2*
Records: Florida 13-0; Ohio State 14-2
What's Next for the Gators
- Who: No. 6 Georgia (9-3, 3-1 SEC) at No. 1 Florida (13-0, 3-0 SEC)
- When: Friday, March 17 * 5 p.m.
- Where: Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex, Gainesville, Fla.
- Admission: FREE!
- Live Stats: http://sidearmstats.com/florida/wten/
- Live Video: http://floridagators.com/sports/2017/1/20/tennis-live-video-stats.aspx
Gator Pronunciations
- Anna Danilina: ON-nah don-uh-LEE-nah
- Josie Kuhlman: COOL-mun
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube |
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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