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BATON ROUGE, La. - In the end, it was just not meant to be for Karen and Ralph Weekly's 14th-ranked Lady Vols softball team.

Tennessee (47-14) took an early 1-0 lead against No. 1-seeded and No. 1-ranked Florida in the SEC tournament semifinal at Tiger Park on Friday, but Florida starter Stacey Nelson held the Lady Vols scoreless the rest of the way in a 6-1 victory.

"My hat goes off to Florida," said Karen Weekly, Tennessee's co-head coach. "They are a great team in every facet of the game: pitching, offense, and defense. They capitalized when they had runners on base, and their pitching kept us from bringing in runs.

"Our kids battled for every out, but there were just a few little things that happened here and there. The game wasn't as lopsided as the score might indicate."

One day after picking up the win against SEC East rival Georgia, senior pitcher Megan Rhodes (20-9) gave up five earned runs in four innings to take the loss. Freshman Ashton Ward replaced Rhodes in the third inning and gave up one run on two hits in two innings, before giving way to Rhodes in the fifth.

"We weren't hitting our spots, and we weren't getting the ball down," Weekly said. "Against Florida, if you don't hit your spots they will make you pay. We've got a lot of very good young pitchers who just have to learn that in this league it's like real estate; the key is location, location, location."

Nelson (39-2) threw a complete game, striking out five and walking three in seven innings.

Things were looking bright for UT in the first when Kenora Posey scored from third on Shannon Doepking's sacrifice bunt.

The lead was short-lived. The Gators (61-2) scored three runs in the second inning on a Corrie Brooks' RBI single to bring Tiffany DeFelice home from second and a Kim Waleszonia double to score Brooks and Kristina Hilberth.

Florida stretched the lead to three in the fifth inning when Waleszonia scored on a bases-loaded walk to Megan Bush. It added two in the sixth on a bases-loaded walk to Ali Gardiner and a sacrifice fly by Francesca Enea.

Posey (2-for-3) led the Lady Vols at the plate, while SEC Player of the Year Tonya Callahan went 1-for-2.

The Lady Vols will wait for an at large berth to the NCAA tournament. They likely will host first-round games next weekend.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.