The University of Florida began the year ranked No. 1 and they will finish No. 1 after winning the NCAA National Championship on Tuesday night with a 4-1 win over Stanford. The match was originally scheduled to start at 5 p.m. eastern but due to more rain the starting time was pushed back until 8 p.m. eastern. Fortunately it stopped raining shortly after 4 p.m. so by 8 p.m. the outdoor courts were dry which meant we didn’t have to suffer through another indoor final.
Florida and Stanford were meeting in the NCAA Championship Final for the 10th time with Stanford holding a 6-3 edge coming into this match. Florida and Stanford had met during the regular season in Gainesville with Florida winning 4-1 though all the individual matchups were different this time around.
Photo by Bill Kallenberg (CapturedInAction.com)
Florida got off to a quick start in doubles and in less than 30 minutes they had secured the doubles point for the 28th time of the year with a 6-2 win at No. 1 and a 6-1 win at No. 3.
Each team took three opening sets in singles with Stanford winning close sets at No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 while Florida took the opening set more comfortably at No. 1, No. 5, and No. 6.
Florida senior Kourtney Keegan put the Gators up 2-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Emma Higuchi at No. 6 and a short while later fellow senior Belinda Woolcock made it 3-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Caroline Doyle at No. 1.
The match looked like it’d be over in a matter of seconds because as Woolcock won her match Florida junior Brooke Austin was serving for the match at No. 5 up 6-2, 5-4 on Emily Arbuthnott. Austin had a match point on the no-ad point but Arbuthnott got the break for 5-5 when Austin netted a low volley at the net. Arbuthnott held on the no-ad point for 6-5 and then she broke from 30/40 to send it to a third set.
All eyes shifted to the top courts where Stanford’s Melissa Lord was getting close to a win at No. 2 while Florida freshman Ingrid Neel had opened up a 3-0 lead in the third set over Stanford senior Taylor Davidson. Lord would break Josie Kuhlman to go up 6-4, 6-5 and then she served it out from 40/30 to win 6-4, 7-5.
Stanford was on the board and all of sudden the Cardinal were charging on each of the three remaining courts. Davidson got her match back on serve after breaking Neel from 15/40 for 2-3, Caroline Lampl broke Anna Danilina at love to go up 4-3 in the third, and Emily Arbuthnott had broken Brooks Austin for 3-1 in the third. Stanford, which was all but out of the match a few minutes earlier, now had break leads on two of the remaining courts plus it had one its most clutch players in school history on the other.
However in a blink of an eye momentum would swing back towards Florida with Neel breaking Davidson from 30/40 for 4-2, Danilina breaking Lampl at love for 4-4, and Austin breaking Arbuthnott on the no-ad point for 2-3.
Neel consolidated the break with a hold for 5-2 and then after going up 30/40 she’d break Davidson on the no-ad point to clinch the NCAA Championship with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 win.
Congrats to @GatorsWTN on winning the NCAA Championship with a 4-1 win over defending champion Stanford – freshman Ingrid Neel clinches!! pic.twitter.com/T6GlFCc16w
— Bobby Knight (@College10s2day) May 24, 2017
#1 FLORIDA (29-3) 4, #6 STANFORD (26-3) 1
Head Coaches: Roland Thornqvist (Florida) and Lele Forood (Stanford)
Doubles
1. #11 Anna Danilina/Ingrid Neel (FLORIDA) def. #39 Emily Arbuthnott/Taylor Davidson (STANFORD), 6-2
2.#46 Caroline Doyle/Melissa Lord (STANFORD) vs. 20 Brooke Austin/Kourtney Keegan (FLORIDA), 4-3, uf
3.#45 Josie Kuhlman/Belina Woolcock (FLORIDA) def. Emma Higuchi/Caroline Lampl (STANFORD), 6-1
Singles
1. #6 Belinda Woolcock (FLORIDA) def. #38 Caroline Doyle (STANFORD), 6-1, 6-3
2. #28 Melissa Lord (STANFORD) def. #23 Josie Kuhlman (FLORIDA), 6-4, 7-5
3. #31 Ingrid Neel (FLORIDA) def. #54 Taylor Davidson (STANFORD), 5-7, 6-3, 6-2
4. #44 Anna Danilina (FLORIDA) vs. #90 Caroline Lampl (STANFORD), 4-6, 6-1, 5-4, uf
5. Emily Arbuthnott (STANFORD) vs. Brooke Austin (FLORIDA), 2-6, 7-5, 4-2, uf
6. #59 Kourtney Keegan (FLORIDA) def. Emma Higuchi (STANFORD), 6-0, 6-0
Doubles (1,3) Singles (6,1,2,3)
Bobby, great coverage and great seasons. Thanks for all your work.