Gators Top Mississippi State, Advance to SEC Semifinals

Friday, April 21

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Mississippi State - SEC QF

Kourtney Keegan (left) and Brooke Austin clinched the doubles point for the Gators.

Gators Top Mississippi State, Advance to SEC Semifinals

Friday, April 21, 2017 | Women's Tennis

Final Scores (PDF)Photo Gallery Postmatch with Coach Roland Thornqvist Postmatch with Brooke Austin Postmatch with Spencer Liang Dual Match Point by Spencer Liang Clinching Doubles Point

Spencer Liang provided the clinching dual match heroics.

By: Kathy Cafazzo

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – For the last two seasons, it seems when Florida has needed a clinching victory in the Southeastern Conference Tournament, it looked to Spencer Liang. The Gator senior was again called upon to provide heroics during Friday's battle against No. 20 Mississippi State and Liang came through as she helped Florida earn a tough 4-2 victory in the quarterfinal round held at the Currey Tennis Center on the campus of Vanderbilt University.

What's Next for the Gators

Florida will face No. 10-seeded and 12th-ranked Auburn in the semifinals on Saturday at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT.
The Tigers stunned No. 2-seed and fourth-ranked Georgia, 4-1, in their quarterfinal match on Friday.

Live Scoring

Florida vs. Auburn: The Series

40-Match Series: UF leads 40-0 (UF at home: 17-0; Away: 20-0; Neutral: 3-0)
Regular-Season Match: The Gators defeated the Tigers, 4-0, during the regular season on April 2 in Gainesville
SEC Tournament: The Gators are 2-0 against the Tigers in SEC Tournament action, with the most recent meeting coming in last year's quarterfinals.

How the Gators Advanced vs. Mississippi State
Liang wasn't in Florida's original singles lineup on Friday, but after doubles play, UF head coach Roland Thornqvist made a change and inserted Liang at the number six position where she polished off the dual match with a 7-5, 6-1 victory in just under two hours.

Last year, Liang provided the clinching dual match singles wins in the quarterfinals and semifinals that sent Florida to the final where it claimed its 20th tournament title.

Liang's first set against Jennifer Brown was back and forth, as both competitors would follow a break with a break and a service hold with a hold. The Gator senior seemed to have the early upper hand when she broke in the ninth game and went to serve with the 5-4 lead. Brown broke back, but couldn't hold and Liang finally ended the trend by serving out - having to fight off one break point - for the first frame, 7-5.

Liang then raced out to a 4-0 lead in the second en route to the straight-set win.

Junior Anna Danilina was the first off the singles courts, posting her fourth double-bagel victory of the season that gave the Gators a 2-0 lead just 45 minutes into the start of play.

Junior Brooke Austin was the next to finish and her match played out nearly identically to Liang's in that neither competitor could pull away in the first set. Austin eared a break for a 5-4 lead, but Anastasia Rentouli broke right back to even the score. The Gator, however, took Rentouli's serve and then closed out the frame by holding en route to a 7-5, 6-1 win and Florida assumed a 3-0 lead in the team scoring.

Mississippi State, which won the first set on courts one, two and three, followed Austin's win with victories on courts one and three and inched closer, 3-2.

The Bulldogs kept fighting back and could feel the momentum after taking a 3-0 lead in the second set behind a pair of breaks on court two after winning the first, 7-5. Josie Kuhlman finally found her groove and won three straight games to even the set at 3-all, but was going to need to win it to force a third set. Kuhlman wasn't able to continue her run and went down 4-3.

That's when Liang provided the finishing touches on the Gator win.

Thornqvist felt Florida played its best tennis on the doubles court on Friday that resulted in the all-important doubles point.

How Tough is it? SEC Women's Tennis is so tough …

The No. 1-ranked team in the country (Florida) is the No. 3 seed in the SEC Tournament
The No. 23-ranked team in the country (Tennessee) is the No. 11 seed and had to play on the opening day of the five-day tournament.
Eleven of the 14 SEC schools are ranked among the top 25 teams in the country, including three of the top four teams.

Florida vs. Mississippi State: The Updated Series

39-Match Series: UF leads 39-0 (UF at home: 18-0; Away: 19-0; Neutral: 2-0)
SEC Tournament: The Gators improved to 2-0 against the Bulldogs in SEC Tournament action. The only other meeting was a 6-0 UF win on April 26, 1991, in the quarterfinal round played in Knoxville, Tenn.

Gators at the SEC Tournament

All-Time Record: 74-9
Championships: 20 (most recent in 2016)
Runner-Up Finishes: 5
Semifinalists: 3
Florida improved to 29-1 all-time in SEC Tournament quarterfinal matches
The Gators are 25-3 all-time in SEC Tournament semifinal matches
Florida has advanced to the SEC Tournament final 25 times in the 29-year history of the event

Gators at a Glance

Florida entered the SEC Tournament off a 4-2 loss to Vanderbilt on April 16, when it had its eight-match win streak halted.
The Gators have won the doubles point in 21 of 24 matches.
UF is 21-0 when winning the doubles point this year.
Junior Brooke Austin has won 14 consecutive singles matches
Spencer Liang had played and finished just four dual matches this season, posting a 2-2 record prior to Friday's big win.

Quotes from the Court – UF Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
"I thought we were spectacular in doubles – some of the best doubles we've played all year.

"In singles, I thought Mississippi State was great. On courts one and two, they played flawless tennis for about the first hour and a half. Josie (Kuhlman) did all she could to hang in there and finally she saw a little bit of daylight.

"The best thing for us all day was Spencer (Liang) coming in here and clinching it for us. She was really, really good. She handled herself great at the end of the first set and was really tough in the second."

WATCH more of what Coach had to say about Friday's win.

Gator Senior Spencer Liang on her clinching singles victory
"It was definitely a grind. She was really good, a great player. I played her last year during the regular season and that was a good match, too. She had a great forehand, great backhand, pretty solid. I think I played pretty well. I was put in last minute but I always have to be ready. It keeps me on my feet. I went out there and played my best and ran down every ball I could. I was pretty consistent. My serve could have been a little better but I'm going to hit some now and get that first-serve percentage up."

WATCH more of what Spencer Liang had to say about the Gators advancing to the semifinals.

Gator Junior Brooke Austin on the Gators advancing to the semifinals
"It feels pretty good because the SEC is so good this year – I feels like every team is ranked in the top 20 in the country. I think our team is trying to focus on one match at a time."

WATCH more of what Brooke Austin had to say about her individual doubles and singles wins.

Links of Note: SEC Tournament

Links of Note: Florida vs. Mississippi State

Southeastern Conference Women's Tennis Championship - Quarterfinals
Currey Tennis Center * Nashville, Tenn.
Friday, April 21, 2017
Final Score: Florida 4, Mississippi State 2

Doubles (Order of finish: 3, 2*)
#17 Anna Danilina/Ingrid Neel, UF d. #5 Jasmine Lee/Lisa Marie Rioux, MSU 5-3 DNF
#20 Kourtney Keegan/Brooke Austin, UF d. Khrystyna Vozniak/Jennifer Brown, MSU 6-2*
#42 Belinda Woolcock/Josie Kuhlman, UF d. Madison Harrison/Sara Lizariturry, MSU 6-2

Singles (Order of finish: 5, 4, 1, 3, 6*)
1. #10 Jasmine Lee, MSU d. #6 Belinda Woolcock, UF 6-2, 6-3
2. #16 Josie Kuhlman, UF vs. Lisa Marie Rioux, MSU 5-7, 3-4 DNF
3. Madison Harrison, MSU d. #29 Ingrid Neel, UF 7-6 (1), 6-4
4. Brooke Austin, UF d. Anastasia Rentouli, MSU 7-5, 6-1
5. #37 Anna Danilina, UF d. Sara Lizariturry, MSU 6-0, 6-0
6. #75 Spencer Liang, UF d. Jennifer Brown, MSU 7-5, 6-1*
Records: Florida 22-2; Mississippi State 15-8

2017 SEC Tournament Schedule (times listed are EASTERN)
Currey Tennis Center * Nashville, Tenn.
Wed., April 19 – First Round
Match 1: #11 Tennessee d. #14 Alabama – 4-0
Match 2: #12 Ole Miss d. #13 Missouri – 4-2
Thur., April 20 – Second Round
Match 3: #6 Mississippi State d. #11 Tennessee – 4-1
Match 4: #10 Auburn d. #7 Arkansas – 4-3
Match 5: #8 LSU d. #9 Texas A&M – 4-3
Match 6: #5 Kentucky d. #12 Ole Miss– 4-3
Fri., April 21 - Quarterfinals
Match 7: #3 Florida d. #6 Mississippi State – 4-2
Match 8: #10 Auburn d. #2 Georgia – 4-1
Match 9: #1 Vanderbilt vs. #8 LSU – 4 p.m.
Match 10: #4 South Carolina vs. #5 Kentucky – 7 p.m.
Sat., April 22 - Semifinals
Match 11: #3 Florida vs. #10 Auburn – 11 a.m.
Match 12: Match 9 winner vs. Match 10 winner – 2 p.m.
Sun., April 23 - Finals
Match 13: Championship Match – 1 p.m.

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