After a weekend of highs and lows at the National Team Indoor Championships, the Gators did not come away with an award.
Well, at least the team didn’t.
For the first time in her career, senior Olivia Janowicz was named the Southeastern Conference Player of the Week.
The accomplishment was awarded to Janowicz after a career weekend at the national tournament, during which she compiled two upsets and led Florida to a 2-1 record against three top-20 opponents. Those three opponents are now ranked in the top 10.
The senior’s best match play came against No. 9 Southern California on Sunday. The unranked duo of Janowicz and freshman Kourtney Keegan upset USC’s seventh-ranked doubles team of Giuliana Olmos and Zoe Scandalis.
In singles play, Janowicz won her fourth match at the No. 1 spot when she defeated USC’s 13th-ranked Sabrina Santamaria, who was ranked No. 1 in the fall. Santamaria was the highest-ranked opponent Janowicz has beaten in her collegiate career.
Janowicz also came away with a victory against Northwestern’s Veronica Corning a day earlier, despite the team’s 4-2 loss.
She has shown steady improvement while playing at the No. 1 spot. Of the three seniors on the team, she has been this season’s anchor at the one position.
However, it has not always been that way. Janowicz has often been overshadowed by more prominent members of the team.
“You got to remember, the last four years, the one spot has been occupied by two of the best players to ever play at college in my opinion in Lauren [Embree] and Allie [Will],” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “So I think our seniors feel that this is their team and this is their opportunity. They’ve earned it.”
After losing to Northwestern on Saturday, the Gators slipped to No. 5 in the ITA Rankings. Florida (6-1) will look to climb back when they return home to play No. 28 Florida State (5-2) on Tuesday at 4 p.m.
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Olivia Janowicz swings at the ball during Florida’s 4-0 win against Harvard on Jan. 26 at the Ring Tennis Complex.
