Coming off a season in which Florida captured 23 wins and went undefeated in Southeastern Conference play, coach Roland Thornqvist is looking forward to the start of UF’s Fall matches.
It all begins Friday when Florida travels to Durham, North Carolina, to compete in the Duke Invitational.
“Virtually all our players were very active this summer. They played in tournaments and trained very well,” Thornqvist said on Tuesday. “I’ve seen some of it here in practice, but I’m excited to see it come to fruition in competition and this weekend.”
Because his players have been competing, Thornqvist is looking forward to seeing the progress they have made during the offseason.
“These individual tournaments are great opportunities for them to showcase how much improvement has happened over the summer,” Thornqvist said. “We’ve looked good in practice, but you always find out more when you play outside competition.”
Florida will showcase new doubles pairings when it opens play this weekend — senior Kourtney Keegan and junior Peggy Porter will compete as one pair, and senior Spencer Liang and junior Anna Danilina as another. Thornqvist also said that Josie Kuhlman and Belinda Woolcock, who have been doubles partners for two years, will remain a pair in the invitational.
As coaches pose several goals to their players at the beginning of the season, one that comes to mind for Thornqvist is the team’s fitness.
“Last year, I think we did an adequate job fitness wise, and I think we will emphasize it a little bit more this year,” Thornqvist said. “By the time we get to May and the NCAA championships, we have got to make sure that we are the fittest team out there.”
With this goal in mind, Thornqvist said the beginning of Fall training was comprised mostly of physical work rather than players fine tuning their skills on the court.
But when the Gators finally start competing, Thornqvist said Florida’s experience will stand out. With all seven of the players on UF’s roster being upperclassmen, their knowledge on the court has impressed Thornqvist.
“I think all these players, since they are veterans, know what to expect and know what to do,” Thornqvist said.
Brooke Austin and former doubles partner Keegan are coming off a year in which the duo won the NCAA championship, and Spencer Liang, Woolcock and Keegan are expected to play key roles, according to Thornqvist.
“They are going to help in little things. They all have their little strengths, and we are going to try to utilize all of that,” Thornqvist said. “But I don’t think this is necessarily a team that really needs strong leadership per se. They know already what to do, and I think (the team) is a nice, cohesive unit.”
Contact Cassie Amundson at camundson@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @camundson_.
UF women’s tennis coach Roland Thornqvist smiles during introductions prior to Florida’s win over USF on Jan. 27, 2016, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
