Every new season brings with it a fresh start and clean slate, but for this year’s installment of the Florida women’s tennis team, there is more freshness than usual.
After the departure of graduated seniors Olivia Janowicz, Sofie Oyen and Alex Cercone — the winningest class in UF history — the Gators are now comprised of one junior, four sophomores and three freshmen.
With so much experience being replaced with so much youth, there is an obvious void left to fill in terms of talent and leadership.
Enter Brianna Morgan.
While only a junior, Morgan is the veteran of the team and the clear leader heading into the season. She is ranked No. 14 in the national singles chart of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division I Women’s Preseason Rankings, matching the highest ranking of her career.
Florida coach Roland Thornqvist said he thinks Morgan can get even better if she improves her fitness this season.
"She’s got world class game," said Thornqvist, entering his 14th year at Florida. "She didn’t have a very good summer, she’ll be the first one to tell you that, but she’s been an animal in practice the first couple of weeks."
Two other Gators made the preseason rankings; sophomore Kourtney Keegan is ranked No. 51 in the singles chart and Belinda Woolcock, also a sophomore, is No. 89. The duo is also ranked No. 13 nationally in the preseason doubles ranking, a career-high for the pairing.
Despite the youth and inexperience, Thornqvist said he thinks the players this year will be able to push each other harder in practice because of their collective ball-striking ability, something previous teams were unable to do.
"What I like about this team, even though we’re young, we really have some big ball strikers on this team," he said. "Brianna, perhaps in the years past, had been the only one, so it’s been tough for us to match her in practice, forehand to forehand, backhand to backhand.
"We have a few players on this year’s team who can go toe-to-toe with her from the baseline."
One of the biggest changes in collegiate tennis this year is the no-ad scoring system, something that rule-makers hope will speed up matches and make them more exciting. It will be used in both singles and doubles.
Originally used in men’s Division I tennis from 1975-1988, no-ad means players will no longer have to win a game by two points. If the score is tied at three points each, the next point wins.
Coach Thornqvist said he has no experience with no-ad scoring in all his years of coaching, but he is excited to see what it brings to the game.
The first opportunity to see the Gators and the new scoring system will be at the Duke Invitational in Durham, N.C., which begins Friday.
Thornqvist said figuring out chemistry between doubles pairings will be very important, and this tournament will provide him the first real opportunity to see them in action against other competitors.
Belinda Woolcock will also hope to repeat her success from this tournament a year ago.
Woolcock made the singles white draw quarterfinals, and was part of the doubles team with Sofie Oyen that won the black draw title.
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Brianna Morgan swings at the ball during Florida’s 4-0 win against Harvard on Jan. 26 at the Ring Tennis Complex.
