Florida’s postseason run came to an end on Sunday afternoon, as the three Gators representing the team at the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships at the Hurd Tennis Center of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, fell just short of reaching the finals.
In Singles play, No. 13-ranked freshman Josie Kuhlman dropped a three-set thriller to the No. 2-ranked Singles player in the country, Stanford’s Carol Zhao, in the semifinals.
Kuhlman came out fired up, taking the first set, 6-2.
But Zhao quickly regained her composure and battled to tie things up with a 6-4 victory in the second set.
With the momentum on her side, Zhao eased to a third set victory, 6-0, eliminating Kuhlman.
The No. 6-ranked doubles duo of Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan fell to the No. 5-ranked pair of Klara Fabikova and Zsofi Susanyi from California in the NCAA Doubles Championships semifinals.
Like Kuhlman, Austin and Keegan came out hot and took the first set, 6-3.
But the Cal twosome recovered to win the second and third sets, 6-4, 6-4, to move into the finals.
All three Gators will have earned ITA All-American status in the final poll of the season due to deep postseason runs combined with a top-20 ITA singles ranking for Kuhlman and a top-10 doubles ranking for the doubles duo of Austin and Keegan.
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Brooke Austin hits an open-stance backhand during Florida women's tennis' 4-0 win against Elon on Jan. 24, 2015, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
