Postseason. The word alone gets sports fans excited.
The postseason is do or die, win or go home, and it’s where the best of the best fight it out for the ultimate prize.
Florida will get its first taste of postseason action this week when the No. 8 Gators travel to Orange Beach, Alabama, for the Southeastern Conference tournament.
Florida is the No. 2 seed in the conference behind Texas A&M and will play its first tournament game on Wednesday against No. 10 seed Tennessee, which defeated No. 7 seed Alabama 3-2 on Monday.
For the Gators, they are just focusing on themselves and on how they can continue to improve, even at this point in the season.
"I think for us, we want to play the teams that are gonna challenge us the most," coach Becky Burleigh said. "Anything that we can do to continue to prepare ourselves to head into the NCAA tournament as well is a good thing."
To continue its winning ways throughout the SEC tournament and into the NCAA tournament, Florida will need to continue to suffocate teams with its balanced attack — a balanced attack that was recognized last weekend when five Gators were named to All-SEC teams.
Sophomore Savannah Jordan, junior Christen Westphal and seniors Havana Solaun and Tessa Andujar were named to the All-SEC first team. Junior Claire Falknor was named to the All-SEC second team.
The players were proud to receive the honor, but they were also quick to give credit where credit is due.
"It’s nice to get recognition, but other than that I focus more on results and the team aspects and I feel like a lot of people don’t get enough credit for what they do, for the little things they do," Falknor said. "I couldn’t get this without the team."
The first and second team honors come at a time when Florida is focused and preparing for the SEC tournament. That is where its attention is.
"I think we’re just really excited to play," Andujar said. "We love going to the SEC tournament, it’s fun, different environment, teams bring it all and we try to bring it all too."
The Gators are very much looking forward to their first tournament game on Wednesday and to getting their first taste of the 2014 postseason. For them, it’s hopefully only the beginning of an exhilarating few weeks of tournament play.
"It’s exciting for us to have more games to play," Burleigh said. "This team has always wanted to spend as much time as possible together, so I think they’re just looking forward to getting back on the field."
Follow Alex Maminakis on Twitter @AlexMaminakis
Savannah Jordan chases after a ball during Florida's 6-1 win against Tennessee
