The No. 2 Florida women's tennis team will be heading out on a highly anticipated road trip this weekend to play No. 4 North Carolina and No. 6 Duke.
The Gators (5-0) are coming off their first true test of the season, a gritty 5-2 win over No. 25 South Florida at home on Tuesday.
This weekend coach Roland Thornqvist's team will hit the road for the first time in dual match play, and the Gators' competition will be much tougher than it has been to this point.
Thornqvist said his team is ready to continue the serious part of the season, which began Tuesday against the Bulls, after endless hours of hard work in practice.
"This team is very competitive," he said. "We don't want to practice anymore, we want to go out and play other good teams."
Adding to the challenge is that North Carolina and Duke play their home matches on indoor courts, a surface that the Gators aren't as familiar with.
Thornqvist said earlier in the season that Florida intentionally scheduled these indoor road matches just a week before the ITA National Indoor Championships, which kick off in Charlottesville, Va., next Friday. The Championships will feature 16 top-25 teams, meaning this weekend's matches will give the players a good taste of what to expect, Thornqvist said.
"Playing these teams will help us get used to a pressure environment and help us learn what to do as far as communicating and playing like a team," he said after a win against No. 54 FIU.
The pressure will be turned up Saturday at North Carolina, as the Tar Heels have beaten two top-15 teams in the last two weeks and are looking to prove themselves against another top opponent.
Every team is looking for momentum heading into the Indoor Championships, and Florida is no exception.
While Thornqvist said that his team would have to focus on the little things to come out on top, sophomore leader Allie Will said that her team would have to go into the road trip with confidence.
"We have to go be aggressive and enjoy it because we haven't been challenged that much this season," she said. "We know that the level of play is going to go up. We can't be afraid to lose."
