High rankings come with high expectations, and this season Florida has a lot to live up to.
On Monday, coaches from the Southeastern Conference voted the Gators as the unanimous favorite to win their second consecutive SEC title.
The preseason predictions and No. 2 ranking are nothing new for coach Roland Thornqvist and his team.
“That’s sort of an unspoken thing every year here,” he said. “We always have high expectations. That’s frankly why our players come to Florida. That’s the best way to do it: get players on board that are already used to high expectations both from themselves and externally.”
After nearly winning the NCAA finals last season, this year’s squad features six returning players including SEC Player of the Year Lauren Embree and SEC Freshman of the Year Allie Will.
Embree’s second season in Gainesville has been met with adversity, as a wrist injury prevented her from participating in the fall.
The talented sophomore will play singles for the first time, as the Gators open the season today at 5 p.m. against UCF at home.
Embree’s return provides UF with another talented player on a roster that already features five players ranked in the ITA’s top 100.
“Our players were sort of used to maybe the idea of not having Lauren day in and day out, and now that may be changing for the better for us,” Thornqvist said.
The Gators have a blend of experience and youth that should bode well this season.
Freshmen Olivia Janowicz, Alexandra Cercone and Sofie Oyen have contributed this season, with Janowicz winning the ITA Southeast Regional in October.
Although all three players have experience playing in high-profile matches at the junior national and international levels, today will be their first taste of dual-match play.
“It’s very different than playing as a junior on the junior circuit, where you only play for yourself,” Thornqvist said. “Here, you have the added pressure of playing for Florida with the big name in front.
“You play on a team where more often than not, you have the bull’s-eye on you.”
With a strong freshman class and several key veterans, handling the depth of such a talented squad is no easy task.
“One of our challenges, I think, this year is, with having so many talented players, to have each one of them find a role on the team,” Thornqvist said. “Even though the younger ones are very talented, they can’t really lead us no matter where they play in the lineup.”
The team has underperformed in doubles so far, so the Gators spent the past week building chemistry and making improvements, looking to put those on display against UCF.
“We are going to continue to try and press to the importance of playing good doubles to start off dual matches well,” Thornqvist said, “and I think we have the players to be a very good doubles team.
“So, hopefully some of the work we’ve done in the past few days will show itself when we play Central Florida.”
