Peggy Porter’s name hasn’t been called often. In fact, the Dallas, Texas, native’s only match this spring came in the season-opener against Depaul on Jan. 28. However, when she was put on court six during Saturday’s opening round of the NCAA Tournament, it looked like she hadn’t missed a beat. Porter’s 6-2, 6-3 win over Massachusetts’s Brittany Collens clinched the match for the Gators, giving them a 4-0 victory to begin tournament play.
“Peggy’s had a fantastic attitude all year,” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “She’s worked super hard and been an unbelievable teammate but has not got the opportunity to play a lot. I was so happy that she was one of the first ones off of the court today.”
However, Porter’s victory wasn’t the only dominant play from the Gators. Florida started off strong with a quick 6-1 doubles victory from Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock. Three minutes later, Ingrid Neel and Anna Danilina put the Gators up 1-0 with a 6-2 win over UMass’s Ruth Crawford and Anna Woosley.
Singles play proved to be slightly more challenging for the Gators. Facing multiple deuce points and 3-all matches, Florida was able to pull through.
Danilina was first off the court for the Gators after beating Woosley 6-3, 6-1 for her ninth straight singles sweep. Neel immediately followed with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Ana Yrazusta. Three minutes later, Porter won her match to give the Gators their 13th sweep of the season.
“We didn’t jump all over them to the point where the match was decided early,” Thornqvist said. “So it was great for us. We got to figure some stuff out. It was a great first round….It was probably the best first-round team we’ve played in my 16 years here at Florida.”
The team will now gear up to play Miami tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the second round of the NCAA tournament. The Gators have a painful history with the Hurricanes, as they were upset by UM back in 2004 as a No. 1 seed.
While Thornqvist joked that he had “forgotten” about the match when asked about it, he expects Sunday to be a tough, grind-it-out type of contest.
“We’ve played them quite a few times in the NCAA tournament in my time here, and they’ve all been battles that have gone down to the wire,” Thornqvist said. “We expect the same tomorrow.”
Contact Spencer Thompson at sthompson@alligator.org or follow him on Twitter @spencemthompson.
Junior Anna Danilina hits a forehand during Florida's 4-2 win over Oklahoma State on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
