Auburn able to get by South Carolina in quarterfinals, lose to No. 1 ranked Florida Gators
Fani Chifchieva: returns a serve at the Yarborough Tennis Center courts Saturday against Florida. Anthony Hall / AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Auburn couldn’t find a way to get out of the quarterfinals of the SEC Women’s Tennis Tournament Saturday, losing to the Florida Gators 4-0.
The Tigers advanced to the quarterfinals beating South Carolina 4-0 Friday.
SEC Athlete of the Year, Auburn’s Fani Chifchieva, defeated the Gamecock’s Gira Schofield 6-4, 6-3 in their match Friday at the Yarborough Tennis Center.
A sophomore from Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Chifchieva finished the regular season 21-2 in singles matches along the way to winning SEC Athlete of the Year.
“It was a great effort today against a very solid South Carolina team,” said Auburn head coach Tim Gray. “The team took care of business.”
Whitney Chappell clinched the victory against South Carolina, beating Suzanne Mansour 6-3, 6-3.
Chappell, Chifchieva and Melissa Koning all won their singles matches to put the Tigers up against Florida in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
The No. 5 ranked Gators brought in a stacked team that featured three All-SEC performers, including the SEC Freshman of the Year, Julia Cohen.
Whitney Chappell: reaches to return the ball against Florida’s Marrit Boonstra. Anthony Hall / AUBURN UNIVERSITY
The Gators (19-1) didn’t allow the Tigers a match victory on the day as Florida advanced to the semifinals to face the No. 12 ranked Vanderbilt Commodores.
Florida’s Anastasia Revzina clinched the match victory against Auburn, defeating Jil Hastenrath 6-3, 6-2.
Junior Alex Haney: battles against Florida’s Csilla Borsayani. Anthony Hall / AUBURN UNIVERSITY
Gator’s head coach Roland Thornqvist has never lost in the quarterfinals, while Florida is 21-0 all-time in SEC quarterfinal play.
“We played a great match today,” said Thornqvist. “It was great being able to play a team like Auburn in the quarterfinals. They are led by the SEC player of the year. I think our team played tremendously well.”
Florida advanced to play the defending champions and No. 2 ranked Georgia Bulldogs in the finals, beating Vanderbilt 4-2 in semifinal play Saturday.
The number one and two seeds faced off noon Sunday at the Yarborough Tennis Center.
Florida dominated the doubles matches, but fell to Georgia in the championship, losing four of six singles matches.
“What an incredible tournament,” said Georgia head coach Jeff Wallace. “I am just so proud of the team. They fought so hard and put it in right down to the last match.”
Georgia’s Kelly Hyndman was named tournament MVP after finishing the SEC’s without a loss.
NCAA Regional’s begin May 9, followed by the NCAA Championships May 16 in Tulsa, Okla.
The NCAA Tournament field will be announced April 29.
