The Florida women’s tennis team remains No. 2 following its outing at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship last weekend.
And after going 2-1 in Charlottesville, Virginia — defeating two ranked teams in then-No. 13 Clemson and then-No. 10 Virginia before falling to then-No. 3 North Carolina — UF saw its players get rewarded in the latest ITA rankings.
Freshman Josie Kuhlman highlighted the list, jumping six spots from No. 9 to No. 3, with an undefeated record in dual match singles (3-0) and an 11-4 overall mark versus ranked opponents.
Joining her in the top 10 is fellow freshman Brooke Austin at the No .6 spot.
In doubles play, Florida duo Brooke Austin and Kourtney Keegan moved up to the No. 4 spot.
"Between doubles and singles, I don’t think we have a weakness between the two. It’s just a matter of improving different areas," Keegan said.
Coach Roland Thornqvist said he was very pleased with the doubles.
He thinks it’s an area in which the team is much stronger this year, as opposed to the previous few years.
"I think it’s been hard for us in the past couple years in those big matches, to win, and to get to the finish line because we lost in doubles," Thornqvist said.
"We had very little hope in doubles."
The Gators’ next stop is Tallahassee, where they face off with No. 34 Florida State on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
Thornqvist thinks playing at Florida State is always a tough place to play because of the dislike for the Gators.
Thornqvist mentioned that he is looking forward to the rest of the season and the different style of play with the switch to the outdoors courts.
Heading into Southeastern Conference play in the upcoming weeks, the team is looking at areas to improve for the rest of the season.
"Getting some consistency on our singles play primarily and continue to play fast in doubles but perhaps a little more consistent tennis in singles, will be our tennis goals," Thornqvist said.
"And then next week is a monster week with three huge matches in one week, so we have to be smart with our bodies. Obviously do a little bit of conditioning, a lot of stretching and flexibility and just continue with our path."
Follow Eneisy Rodriguez on Twitter @eneisyr29
Freshman Josie Kuhlman (pictured) advanced to the second round of the NCAA Singles competition Wednesday. Out of five Gators who competed, she and sophomore Belinda Woolcock were the only two to advance.
