The UF women’s tennis team has a rough week ahead.
No. 2 Florida’s first stop this week is Tallahassee, where it will face No. 34 Florida State today at 4 p.m. at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center, weather permitting—in the event of inclement weather, the match will be moved indoors.
Coach Roland Thornqvist said FSU is always a tough environment to play at. The rivalry exists for every sport — for tennis, the stands get very rowdy.
Thornqvist said it will be a test to see if the team can stay composed.
"It’ll be cold, it’ll be dark, they’ll be yelling at us," Thornqvist said. "Our freshmen need to be ready and have thick skin."
Florida (5-1) holds a 54-1 all-time record against Florida State (3-1).
The only match the Gators dropped to FSU happened six years ago in 2009.
The Gators are coming off a 10-day break following their outing at the ITA National Indoor Championship. Thornqvist was very pleased with the team’s performance at this competition, especially in doubles play.
He said this can be something that can make a difference at the end of the season.
"I think we played well," Thornqvist said. "We found out a lot about our team, that we have fight and we have the ability to make changes when we have to, in tight sets and tight matches. I think our three freshmen and our four new players with Spencer (Liang), played really well, they handled the pressure well."
Having a young squad can be positive for the future but can also impose some challenges on the team. Thornqvist said he thinks the team will have up-and-down performances because of the young roster.
Junior Brianna Morgan is the only upperclassman on this season’s roster. Thornqvist hopes this will inspire the younger class and push them moving forward the rest of the season.
"We’re still going to look for Brianna to be our anchor," Thornqvist said. "She’s the one that has been around two Final Fours, she knows the brutal (Southeastern Conference) schedule. She’s going to be the one that sets the tone for us. I’m hoping the freshmen will sort of look at her and follow her lead here, because Bri knows what it takes."
Florida will return home to host No. 16 Duke this Friday at 3 p.m. and No. 10 Stanford on Sunday at noon.
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Brianna Morgan hits a two-handed backhand during Florida's 4-0 win against Elon on Saturday at the Ring Tennis Complex.
