Olivia
Janowicz
(Palm Bay, Fla.) and Brianna Morgan (Beverly Hills, Calif.) posted
straight-set singles wins and helped top-seeded Florida blank No. 15 Duke, 4-0,
and march into the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championships played at the Khan
Outdoor Tennis Complex at the Atkins Tennis Center on Friday afternoon.
The
injury-plagued Blue Devils reached the round of 16 with just five players
because of injury, but in the end were no match for the Gators after having to
forfeit the No. 3 doubles and No. 6 singles positions meaning Florida needed
just one win on either of the doubles courts and two singles victories to
capture the dual match.
The
Gators did just that.
“If anyone can appreciated what
Duke did this year, getting here with four players, it’s (assistant coach) Dave
(Balogh) and me,” said UF head coach Roland Thornqvist, who was in a
near identical situation in 2009 and took the Gators to the round of 16 before
bowing out of the NCAA Championships. “It’s a remarkable feat on their part to
get to the round of 16, and they gave us all we could handle on the courts.
Where they could be competitive, there were really, really competitive. You
have to really appreciate what they did.”
The
No. 11-ranked team of Lauren Embree (Marco Island, Fla.) and Sofie
Oyen (Leopoldsburg, Belgium) earned an 8-1 victory on court one against
Mary Clayton and Hanna Mar in 32 minutes and Florida took the doubles point for
the 17th time this season.
As
Duke (16-10) forfeited the No. 6 singles spot, the Gators had a quick 2-0 lead
before a point was played on any of the singles courts.
