For the first time in twenty-seven years, the Gators were knocked out prior to the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament.
No. 8 Texas A&M (19-5) ousted No. 4 Florida (19-5) in a nail-biting 4-3 decision to end UF’s hopes of a fifth consecutive conference championship.
“Texas A&M played better in the clutch than we did today,” coach Roland Thornqvist said in a release. “When you play a top-10 team like [them], the little things are going to be the difference, and they were better at the little things than [we] were today. Hats off to them.”
Florida began the match in a difficult position, ceding the doubles point to give the Aggies an early lead.
Sofie Oyen and Belinda Woolcock won the first doubles match with a 8-5 victory, but TAMU captured the remaining two.
Alexandra Cercone and Brianna Morgan fell 8-5, and the No. 16 doubles team of Stefania Hristov and Cristina Stancu defeated Olivia Janowicz and Kourtney Keegan 8-7 (8-6) in a hard-fought tiebreak.
“I really didn’t think it was a killer,” Thornqvist said of losing the doubles point. “It’s a 4-3 match so we win the doubles point, we win this match, but it’s still only one of seven points. I thought there were other opportunities we had that could have negated the loss of that doubles point in our singles play.”
Florida rallied in singles play, as freshman Keegan and Woolcock won 6-4, 6-0 and 6-2, 6-0 respectively to take a 2-1 lead. Then, the Aggies’ Ines Deheza defeated Janowicz 6-4, 6-3 to even the score.
UF gained the lead for the final time when Cercone grabbed a 6-2, 2-6, 6-0 victory on Court 3. But Sofie Oyen fell 7-6 (2), 1-6, 6-0 and Morgan lost 6-4, 6-4 to give Florida its closest loss of the year.
The defeat put an end to a historic Florida run, which included a 26-0 record in post-season quarterfinal rounds and a chance at a fifth consecutive SEC championship.
[“Texas A&M] made it uncomfortable for us in a couple spots with the way we played and didn’t make the proper adjustments,” Thornqvist said. “It hurts like hell, but credit to them. They did a great job today.”
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @ibcohen5
