The Gators were disappointed after going scoreless against the Cardinal on Sunday, but their journey doesn’t get any easier with another top-10 squad on the schedule tonight.
No. 5 Florida (8-2) will play to No. 9 Texas A&M (6-2) at 5 p.m. as part of USTA’s nationally televised College MatchDay series.
Both the Gators and Aggies find themselves in similar situations a year after finishing in a three-team tie for the Southeastern Conference title.
Texas A&M and Florida both lost All-American players at the No. 1 position after the Aggies’ Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar and the Gators’ Lauren Embree finished their senior seasons. Both teams have also added three freshmen to their roster.
After splitting last year’s season series 1-1 in TAMU’s first year in the SEC, a rivalry may be in the works between the two conference foes.
“They lost a player at one that was world class. We did too, so we feel the same sort of pain,” coach Roland Thornqvist said.
“They beat us last year as a first year SEC team and that’s hard to do … I’m sure they’re rocking into Gainesville hoping and thinking that they’re going to beat us.”
Both teams will also experience their first SEC match play of the season a year after both finished 12-1 in conference play.
“Texas A&M is really good,” Thornqvist said. “They have players at certain spots that can give us trouble. We need to make sure that we’re hungry, and OK upstairs to compete.”
Today will be the Gators’ first match since being blanked by then-No. 3 Stanford on Sunday. Against the Cardinal, freshman Belinda Woolcock was the only Gator to win one set in a singles match.
The defeat rose questions regarding leadership on a mostly inexperienced team that is still developing chemistry. Florida hopes its second straight match against a top-10 opponent will provide some answers.
“I think this team has to learn to really hold true to the blueprint they put together of what kind of team we want to be,” Thornqvist said.
“We need to not only play, but act like a championship team at every instance when we compete.
“I’m hoping that [Sunday]’s loss is going to motivate us and make us even better, especially for [today].”
Follow Ian Cohen on Twitter @ibcohen5
Belinda Woolcock swings at the ball during Florida’s 4-0 win against Louisville on Jan. 25 at the Ring Tennis Complex.
