Life is all about tests, and this weekend the Gators have their first exam.
Half of the men’s team will be traveling to Fort Myers for the Bedford Cup while the other half will be traveling to Napa Valley, California, for the Napa Valley Tournament for the team’s season-opening tournaments.
"It’s good to get back into the rhythm of things," head coach Bryan Shelton said. "It was a quick turnaround for us. We only had a week to practice."
The underclassmen, featuring freshmen McClain Kessler and Alfredo Perez, will play in the Bedford Cup today through Sunday.
While Shelton said nerves are understandable when entering a collegiate tournament for the first time, he has one message for the freshmen — control.
"It’s excitement filled with nerves as well and it’s learning how to deal with those," Shelton said. "You learn how to take your time, how to control your breathing and how to get your focus in the right spot."
During the preseason, Shelton said he wanted to see a better sense of mental toughness out of his players.
Conditioning and working hard in the weight room will only make the team better, he said.
"We’ve really worked hard on our fitness and strength building," Shelton said. "If you’re not fit, if you can’t go the distance, it kind of limits the choices you have when you compete."
Shelton looks at this weekend as a test for his team.
"At the end when the teacher gives you your test back with your grade on it, you see the problems that you did well on and the ones you didn’t do so well on," Shelton said."The big thing for us is getting better everyday."
The women’s team will also be heading west to compete in the Las Vegas 50K in Las Vegas, Nevada, that runs Friday through Sunday.
Coach Roland Thornqvist said he was impressed with how hard the team worked in the preseason.
"We had a really good weekend," Thornqvist said. "I think returning players displayed higher highs and higher lows in their play."
Senior Brianna Morgan was one of the Gators who walked away with a first place title at the Duke Invite. Morgan did not compete in any tournaments this summer, and came back in the season-opener stronger than ever. Morgan did not drop a set in her run to the first place title.
"Fantastic. She was fantastic," Thornqvist said. "Her serve is better, she moves great and perhaps more importantly her appetite for the game seems to really be at its highest it’s ever been."
Before the preseason, Thornqvist said he was hoping to see an improvement in doubles play. Out of the three doubles pairs who made the finals on Saturday, only one team -- junior Spencer Liang and sophomore Peggy Porter -- won their match.
The other two doubles teams that competed were the pairing of juniors Kourtney Keegan and Belinda Woolcock along with the duo of Brianna Morgan and sophomore Anna Danilina.
Duke’s Samantha Harris and Kaitlyn McCarthy took down Keegan and Woolcock in a close 8-7(6) match.
Danilina and Morgan were taken down in an 8-4 match by UNC competitors Kate Vialle and Jessie Aney.
"The other two teams (Keegan/Woolcock and Morgan/Danilina) were new pairings and we really haven’t had that much time to see them play together," Thornqvist said.
"We’re much better off this year than we were last year at this point."
Follow Madison Belfour on Twitter @madisonbel4
Coach Roland Thornqvist said his team will try to learn from its mistakes after Florida fell to Vanderbilt in Sunday's SEC Tournament championship game. “We can start from zero in our preparations," he said.
