Florida’s men’s and women’s tennis teams backed up their high early season rankings, winning the ITA Kick-Off Weekend tournament in Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex.
The No. 7 men’s team beat No. 61 UC Santa Barbara on Friday and No. 57 N.C. State on Saturday to advance.
The No. 2 women’s team, meanwhile, defeated No. 69 College of Charleston on Saturday and No. 66 Winthrop University on Sunday.
With the victories, both teams advanced to the ITA Indoor Championships in Seattle on Feb. 18-21.
The two squads won each of their matches handily, but the most impressive performance was put on by the women’s team in Sunday’s 7-0 sweep of Winthrop.
“It was the most focused we’ve been all year,” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We challenged them in the locker room to see if we could come out and have that killer instinct, and I was very pleased.”
Thornqvist’s team responded to the challenge, as the Gators started fast in all three doubles matches.
Each doubles team began its match with a 4-0 lead and discouraged its opponents right from the start.
UF’s top-ranked duo of Allie Will and Sofie Oyen took care of No. 87 Sandra Herrera and Giovanna Portioli 8-2, while Lauren Embree and Joanna Mather defeated Yasmine Alkema and Julia Breuss 8-2.
The Gators quickly captured the doubles point with those two wins, carrying over the “business-like” mentality Thornqvist said he saw in the team on Saturday.
Every Gator posted a straight-set win in singles play.
Will shut out Elizaveta Zayteseva (6-0, 6-0) while Embree continued her progress back from a fall injury by dominating Alkema (6-1, 6-0).
“We have a very talented team and a very tough team,” Thornqvist said. “If we can have that concentration and focus every time we play, we’ll be pretty tough to beat.”
The men’s team also showed well over the weekend, performing best in a 6-1 dismantling of N.C. State on Saturday.
The Wolfpack came in with three ranked players in their top three singles positions, but five Gators posted straight-set victories.
Alexandre Lacroix and Nassim Slilam, ranked No. 11 in doubles, led the charge in early action both days.
Lacroix aced the match-clinching point for the Gators on Saturday, punching the team’s ticket to Seattle with confidence and energy.
“If we can play like we did this weekend, we have a chance to beat the big teams,” Lacroix said.
