The No. 2 Florida women’s tennis team plowed through three ranked opponents this weekend at the ITA Indoor Championships, securing a spot in the National Indoor Final today.
The Gators found redemption for a disappointing showing last year with wins over No. 9 Miami, No. 12 Clemson and No. 6 Duke. Florida (10-0) won each match handily, including a 4-1 victory over Duke on Sunday.
“We were outstanding in doubles and overall played one of our best matches of the year,” coach Roland Thornqvist said. “That’s a good sign when you’re in the semifinals of the national championships and you’re about to play a top team in the finals.”
Florida’s foe in the finals is a familiar one: No. 1 Stanford. The championship is a rematch of last year’s NCAA Team Championship match, where Stanford topped Florida in a 4-3 heartbreaker for the Gators.
“Half of our team is new and has no memory of that loss,” Thornqvist said. “We’re just focusing on the quality of our opponent and we want to go out and play good, aggressive tennis.”
Sophomore Allie Will led the team over the weekend, posting a 3-0 record in singles. Today, she will go against No. 2 Hilary Barte in her toughest test of the season so far.
“Allie has had an amazing tournament,” Thornqvist said, “but we feel that we are very deep and we can get a win from any spot.”
The Gators’ depth will be tested against Stanford, but Thornqvist is encouraged by how well his team fared this weekend.
“This is the final everybody wanted,” he said. “We’re ready for it.”
MEN’S TEAM FALLS TO UCLA: The No. 11 Florida men’s tennis team lost another close match Sunday in a 4-3 loss to No. 6 UCLA in the consolation match of the ITA Indoor Championships. The Gators went 1-2 over the weekend against three highly ranked opponents.
After a 4-3 win over No. 7 Stanford on Friday, Florida dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 17 Duke on Saturday before falling 4-3 to UCLA in the consolation match Sunday.
“I felt like UCLA was just a little bit stronger than us today,” coach Andy Jackson said. “But I was more than pleased with our competitiveness and effort throughout the weekend.”
Florida has now played to a 4-3 final score in four of its last five matches, going 2-2 in that stretch. After a 6-0 start to the season, the Gators have dropped three of their last four.
“If we’re going to play these top-15 teams, we’re going to have a lot of close matches,” Jackson said. “We’re still a very good team. We’re not dominant, so we’re going to play these teams close.”
