Around 3 p.m. Saturday, instead of coaching his team in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, Gators coach Roland Thornqvist was in a T-shirt and shorts, helping event staff dry the tennis courts at Linder Stadium in hopes of continuing play.
A rain delay that lasted more than six hours wreaked havoc, as the Arizona-South Carolina match that preceded the UF women's tennis match was suspended during singles play.
The Gators cruised to one of their easiest wins of the entire season - a 4-0 thumping of an overmatched South Carolina State team - when play finally resumed.
Allie Will, Lauren Embree and Caroline Hitimana also notched singles wins, helping Florida advance to the second round on Sunday.
The rain delay only added more time to a 20-day layoff for the Gators, but coach Roland Thornqvist said hosting the NCAA Regional helped his team.
"We sent our players away," Thornqvist said. "That's something you have to deal with, it's the same for both teams. They sat in their van, at least we had a home to go home to."
Will had the easiest match, as she dominated her first set 6-1 before Daria Sekerina had to retire.
Embree put the Gators up 3-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 win against Suhaila Jad. The clincher came with another 6-0, 6-0 win courtesy of Hitimana on Court 6.
"In singles, we had a few matchups there where I thought we were clearly better and those were the ones that finished it off," Thornqvist said. "I was happy to see the total duration that we were on the court was not that long although it was a long day."
Although the Gators won relatively easily, Thornqvist said he noticed the effects of the three-week layoff on his team.
"I thought [the layoff affected] our shot-making," Thornqvist said. "I think it's much easier for the underdog because the underdog can just swing away. I think they did a good job of that, they played really well in doubles and it was a different team that we played today versus the team we played last year."
Florida will play South Carolina in the second round tomorrow afternoon at 2 at Linder Stadium.
The UF men's tennis team began their second-round match against the University of Miami following the conclusion of the women's match.
The Gators got out to a good start, winning the doubles point with victories on Courts 1 and 2. But shortly into the beginning of singles, bad weather struck again and the match was postponed until Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
The doubles win was senior Alexandre Lacroix's 208th win of his career, tying Justin O'Neal for the most wins in UF history.
