Despite having success in their first tournament of the season, freshman Brooke Austin and her Florida teammates are just concerned about getting better and growing as a team.
Austin won her first singles title on Sunday in her first tournament as a Gator — all without dropping a set.
"I played really well all weekend, so it was nice," she said. "I was just going for my shots and it was working."
In the final, those shots were working against teammate Kourtney Keegan. But Austin said because everyone on the team is so supportive of one another, playing against her wasn’t difficult.
"It’s exciting because whoever wins, the trophy’s coming back," she said. "Obviously we both wanted to win, but at the end of the day, we’re still teammates. So I was just trying to go out there and have fun."
Coach Roland Thornqvist said both teammates handled the situation exceptionally well.
"They did great," he said. "Those two, they care more about one another than winning the match and it was evident from the first ball. They had great sportsmanship, they applauded each other when the other player did something right – it was kinda like how you would hope two teammates end up playing each other.
"And I’m sure with the quality team that we have that it’s gonna happen again in the fall, so it was nice to see that the first time it happened that we were able to handle it with class."
Thornqvist said he thought the team played very well over the weekend and he didn’t see any major areas of weakness.
But he still wants to see improvement from every player, and throughout the fall semester, he gives each player a few little things to work on.
The players also put pressure on themselves to improve, and Belinda Woolcock, even after coming off a singles title of her own in the first tournament, said she knows everyone’s games can get better.
"I always try and set a few goals for myself every tournament," she said. "In singles I have a few personal ones, but yeah, I think they’re just all about having a really good mentality going in, having confidence, and in doubles, trying to improve from what we did last week."
Woolcock said she thinks this year’s Florida team has great chemistry, and it’s one of the biggest reasons she is so excited for the season.
"I think we’re having a really good time, all of us," she said. "We’re just having a ball."
Follow Graham Hack on Twitter @Graham_Hack24
