After earning the No. 1 seed in the tournament, the Gators women’s tennis team will travel to Connecticut to compete in the National Indoor Championships Friday through Monday. Florida will open its weekend today at 3:30 p.m., facing unseeded Michigan, the No. 13 team in the nation. Michigan also houses the No. 4 doubles team in the country.
Florida hopes to keep its momentum after defeating No. 3 Pepperdine in a demanding match on Saturday. The Gators are 3-0 going into this weekend’s tournament.
In what coach Roland Thornqvist described as the “NBA stretch” of the season, the Gators had a quick turnaround time for the second consecutive week. Having their schedule limit practice time at the moment, Thornqvist said that the Gators are focusing on themselves in an attempt to prepare for the tournament. The team has used its own talent all season to compete against one another, and the week leading up to Friday’s match was no different.
“If we’re ranked one in the country, then we should have some of the best players on our team,” Thornqvist said. “So it’s just going to generally continue to help us internally, push everyone’s level up.”
The Gators also prepared for the match by hitting indoors this week, something the team is not used to. While the Gators will have to adjust to the speed of indoor play, Thornqvist thinks that they are up to the challenge.
“I think this team thinks, ‘Hey, we’ll play inside, outside, in the parking lot and wherever you want us to play,’” Thornqvist said. “That’s pretty cool.”
Contact Spencer Thompson at sthompson@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @spencemthompson.
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.
