The circumstances weren’t ideal and the conditions weren’t favorable, but the No. 2 Gators still got the job done.
Playing a late match that had to be moved indoors due to rain, top-seeded UF defeated Tennessee and advances to the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Oxford, Miss. Florida will play the hosts from Ole Miss on Saturday at 3 p.m.
“They know how to play doubles also,” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “They’re really talented at the top of their lineup and gritty at the bottom of it, so absolutely we’ve got our hands full, but we’re eager.”
Facing the Volunteers with cloudy skies on Friday evening, the match had to be suspended when rain began to fall during singles play. The teams moved indoors to a smaller, three-court facility. The trio of Sofie Oyen, Alex Cercone and Olivia Janowicz all won their matches once indoors, and the match was clinched with Janowicz’s win.
Though the indoor conditions weren’t ideal, Thornqvist said that his team was unfazed by the environment. In the two days since the team had arrived in Oxford, they had been able to practice indoors, preparing them for the change of scenery Friday.
“We don’t practice inside much, but I do think we’ve shaken off that fear or hesitancy playing inside because the past few years we did do fairly well inside,” Thornqvist said. “We played Tennessee indoors at their place earlier in the year. We hit in here twice, and coming inside we weren’t really afraid of it honestly. Obviously, we’re an outdoor team and we prefer to play outside but we were OK in here too.”
While the women were successful, the Florida men were not. Facing a Mississippi team that they had defeated 5-2 last month, the Gators simply did not come to play. After dropping the doubles point, the Gators could not salvage the match in singles, losing 4-1. It was a stark contrast from the previous meeting March 25, when Florida had full control from the start. On Friday night, it was the Rebels who grabbed the match by the horns.
Now, the Gators must await their draw for the NCAA Tournament, which will begin May 12.
