For the Gators women’s tennis team, this is rivalry week. On Sunday, Florida will play one of its biggest challengers of the season.
It’s not Florida State. It’s not Georgia. It’s not even an SEC team.
It’s Stanford.
In what coach Roland Thornqvist describes as one of the greatest rivalries in college tennis, the No. 1 Gators will face off against their West Coast foe, No. 5 Stanford, at noon on Sunday.
For many players, this weekend’s match will be personal. The last time the Gators faced the Cardinal was in the NCAA Round of 16, where Stanford ended Florida’s 2016 season, winning a rigorous 4-3 match. Stanford went on to win the national championship. Before that, the Cardinal defeated the Gators 4-3 in California during the regular season.
Despite Stanford’s recent victories over the Gators, however, Florida comes into Sunday’s match with momentum on its side. Playing their first game at home in almost three weeks and coming off a massive victory at the National Team Indoor Championships, the Gators will try to keep their winning streak alive.
Florida will also look to keep its home winning streak alive. The Gators hold the longest home winning streak of any NCAA Division I team with 161 consecutive home wins. That streak will be on the line this weekend. However, Thornqvist said he doesn’t spend two seconds thinking about the streak.
“Playing the best is what Florida’s all about,” he said. “We’re trying to be the best we can be by May. And by having teams like Stanford and Oklahoma State and Georgia play here at the Ring, that’s going to make us a better team. That’s what you’ve got to do.”
Both the Gators and the Cardinal will start their weekends by playing the national champion runner-up, No. 6 Oklahoma State. Stanford will face the Cowboys on Friday in Orlando, while the Gators will play them Saturday at 4 p.m. at the Ring Tennis Complex.
Thornqvist is excited about the level of talent both teams are bringing to Florida this weekend. This weekend marks the last instance of non-conference play for the Gators before starting their SEC schedule against LSU on March 3. Florida will also have to face the likes of No. 3 Georgia, No. 11 Auburn, No. 12 Vanderbilt and No. 14 Texas A&M.
Thornqvist believes the matchups this weekend will be good precursors for conference play.
“Those are the matches we want. It brings the best out of both teams,” he said. “We’ll have our hands full, but it’ll make us pay attention in practice.”
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.
