It looked all too familiar for the Gators women’s tennis team. Having lost the doubles point, Florida struggled to fight back in singles, ended a winning streak and recorded an unexpected loss.
It first happened earlier in the season during their infamous loss to Georgia that ended the historic home-winning streak. That situation recreated itself on Sunday against Vanderbilt, as the Gators registered their second loss of the season.
However, Florida will likely experience deja vu again this week as they head back to Vanderbilt for the SEC tournament on Wednesday. Just as the Gators used their loss to Georgia as motivation, they plan to do the same with their loss to the Commodores.
“The Georgia match kind of woke us up a bit, and we felt that sting of losing the streak,” senior Kourtney Keegan said. “Hopefully we’ll get to play our best tennis in May.”
The Gators plan on doing that, as they are reinvigorated to improve.
Fueled by frustration, coach Roland Thornqvist said the Gators are eager to get back on the court and redeem themselves. As Florida prepares for the postseason, Thornqvist said his players need to have short memories in order to rebound from Sunday’s loss.
Thornqvist also thinks the team’s attitude needs to change.
“When we played at the National Indoor Championships, we played that to win it,” he said. “And a few times this year, we’ve played not to lose. Yesterday, was for sure one of them. And it bit us in the back.”
Thornqvist said that the loss helped identify the team’s weaknesses and gave them something to work on this week before heading back to Nashville, Tennessee, for the SEC tournament. He said the Gators need to start stronger in doubles so they don’t get themselves into the situation they did on Sunday.
However, Florida now has an opportunity to seek revenge. While the team is No. 1 in the country, it enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed behind Vanderbilt and Georgia. Thornqvist says this speaks to how good the conference is this season.
“Whoever wins this tournament is going to be the favorite to win the NCAA title, in my opinion,” he said. “What you have to go through here on consecutive days to win, it tells you whether you’re ready or not.”
The Gators will be able to assess their readiness as they’ll face either Alabama, Tennessee or Mississippi State on Friday in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament.
Contact Spencer Thompson at sthompson@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @spencemthompson.
UF coach Roland Thornqvist looks on during Florida's 4-2 win against Oklahoma State on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Ring Tennis Complex.
