University of Georgia Athletics
Draw Turned Upside Down in Quarterfinal Play
May 17, 2014 | Women's Tennis
May 17, 2014
ATHENS, Ga.----On a beautiful spring day in Athens, four women's teams kept their dreams alive at the NCAA Tennis Championships advance from the quarterfinals to the semifinals.
Stanford was the first team to book their place in the final four of women's college tennis as the defending national champions and 11th seeded Cardinal defeated No.3 Virginia on the McWhorter Courts. Stanford was led to the doubles point thanks to victories at numbers one (Kristie Ahn & Carol Zhao) and two (Taylor Davidson & Ellen Tsay). Singles play proved to be an all-out battle, with both teams giving their all for a spot in the final four. After Virginia levelled the match at 2-2, the Cardinal were able to close out the victory with wins at numbers six and three. Caroline Doyle's 6-2, 3-6, 6-0 decision at six set the table for Zhao to seal the deal and keep Stanford's defense of the championship they won last year in Illinois, alive.
Moments after Stanford sealed their progression, No.7 North Carolina topped No.2 Alabama on the Henry Feild courts. The Tar Heels were able to take the crucial doubles point as they claimed victories at numbers three and one despite dropping number two. Ashley Dai and Tessa Lyons worked quickly to claim number six 8-2 before Whitney Kay and Caroline Price were able to take the tiebreaker to put UNC 1-0 up with an 8-7(5) victory. Alabama, the regular season SEC Champion, battled in singles to try and extend their run in the 2014 Championships but came up short as wins at numbers one, five and two allowed the Tar Heels to take the match 4-2. Hayley Carter clinched the match, battling back from a second set loss to claim a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 win over Danielle Spielman.
The home fans at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex were sent home unhappy for the second consecutive day as No.1 seed Georgia was toppled by No.8 Florida. The Gators avenged a loss to the Bulldogs in the SEC Tournament with a key factor in the turnaround being Florida's victory in the doubles point. A 8-2 win at number three for Brianna Morgan and Olivia Janowicz was quickly followed by Sofie Oyen and Belinda Woolcock claiming a 8-5 victory at two. The intensity of competition in singles was highlighted by three matches going to third sets. Florida, however, was able to pull out two matches in two sets courtesy of Alexandra Cercone at number four (6-4, 6-2) and Morgan at number one (6-4, 7-5). Oyen was able to clinch a semifinal place at number three with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 victory over a brave but ailing Maho Kowase.
No.5 UCLA booked a date with the Gators in the final four with a commanding 4-2 victory over No.4 Duke. The Bruins crucially claimed the doubles point courtesy of Courtney Dolehide and Chanelle Van Nguyen's 8-3 win at number three and Robin Anderson and Jennifer Brady's 8-5 victory at number one. The Blue Devils came out fighting in singles play, winning two matches at numbers six and three. Wins from UCLA's van Nguyen (6-4, 7-5) at number four, Anderson (7-6[5], 6-3) at number one and Catherine Harrison (5-7, 6-1, 6-3) at number five was too much for Duke and propelled the Bruins into the final four.
>>>It's a first for the UNC No. 1 Doubles Team
For the first time this season, the No. 1 doubles pair for North Carolina of Jamie Loeb and Hayley Carter lost. The pair was a perfect 26-0 before falling to Alabama's Maya Jansen and Erin Routliffe.
"Our motto is `advance and dance'. We are excited to move on," said North Carolina head coach Brian Kalbas. "This was a great match, and we have a lot of respect for Alabama. They won the SEC and are a very talented team and well coached."
>>>Homecoming for Guilbeau
University of Virginia Women's Head Coach Mark Guilbeau ended a record season for his team in Athens, a place he's familiar with. Guilbeau was an assistant coach at the University of Georgia for five seasons where the team finished in the top five of the season each year. He then took over Kentucky's program where he eventually led the Wildcats to its best season in school history in 2005, including reaching a school-record No. 2 National Ranking.
After taking over Virginia in the summer of 2005, he's seen nothing but success in Charlottesville. Despite Saturday's exit to defending National Champions Stanford, Guilbeau led Virginia to its first-ever Quarterfinal appearance and a team-record 24 wins.
"With Kentucky, I was able to do that with a great group of kids. We established a standard there that I've been trying to get here at Virginia," Guilbeau said. "I'm proud of heck as our kids here but at the same time, there's been a bit of a long process with kids trying to buy in. I wanted to see our kids celebrate. I can't imagine what that would've been like. To see them celebrate would've been amazing."
>>>UGA Doubles Sees Into The Future
With Saturday's loss to Florida, Georgia is now 0-3 this season when losing the doubles point. It surrendered the doubles point to both Alabama and North Carolina this season.
"You have to take your hat off to Florida, they just really played well against us," said UGA head coach Jeff Wallace. "I think that was the best I've seen them play in doubles this year, and unfortunately we didn't get that doubles point."
Florida women's head coach Roland Thornqvist said his team focused on getting out to a quick start.
"This Georgia team is really good from top to bottom, and all year their doubles have been the best in the country. We challenged our team today to step up and play aggressive tennis in doubles," he said. "And that really set the tone. I thought we were flawless in doubles. This is the best we played all year. We played with no fear, and I thought we really went after them more than they did us."
>>>A special win for Roland
For Thornqvist, it wasn't just a win that advanced his team into the national semifinal, but also his 400th career win.
It didn't seem to get to him too much.
"That's of less significance honestly," he said. "The fact that we won, and we get to play on Monday is what we were really worrying about."
>>>Upset Central
Every higher-seeded team lost on Saturday. No. 1 Georgia fell to No. 8 Florida, No. 4 Duke fell to No. 5 UCLA, No. 3 Virginia lost to No. 11 Stanford and No. 2 Alabama was defeated by No. 7 North Carolina
