The Gators and their fans had a lot to celebrate over the weekend. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
A Banner Weekend for Florida Athletics
Monday, February 6, 2017 | General, Men's Basketball, Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis
The Gators defeated four opponents ranked in the Top 10 in three different sports over two days.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – How was your weekend?
Perhaps your mood today is based on what happened in the craziest Super Bowl ever on Sunday night. Won't be hard to distinguish Patriots or Falcons fans around the office, that's for sure.
Meanwhile, if you see someone skipping toward the water cooler, there's a good chance he or she is a Gators fan.
In case you took a couple of days away or simply stayed away from sports until Sunday night, you may have missed a banner weekend for Florida's athletic department.
Where should we start?
Oh yeah, the UF men's basketball team welcomed No. 8 Kentucky to town and put a whipping on the Wildcats like never before. No, seriously.
The Gators led from start to finish in their 88-66 victory before a raucous crowd at Exactech Arena, Florida's largest margin of victory in history against Kentucky.
But there was plenty more for Florida fans to celebrate.
The UF men's tennis team hosted No. 8 Southern Cal and No. 6 UCLA on back-to-back days and sent the West Coast powers back home with losses.
The Gators lost the doubles point in both matches but stormed back to improve to 6-0 and establish their place as a national contender in 2017.
"It feels great for our guys to get some validation for the hard work they've been putting in,'' Florida head coach Bryan Shelton said. "It's very early in the season – we haven't even gotten into the conference stuff. We just can't get ahead of ourselves."
Meanwhile, as the UF men played at home, the No. 1-ranked UF women's tennis team trekked to the West Coast to face No. 3 Pepperdine in a huge early season test.
Florida 5, Pepperdine 2.
Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist: 450 career wins.
The Gators won the doubles point and Josie Kuhlman, Brooke Austin, Anna Danilina and Kourtney Keegan clinches singles win as Florida improved to 3-0.
"It was high-level tennis throughout,'' said Thornqvist, who is now 375-47 in 16 seasons at UF. "I thought we were outstanding."
The Gators return home to face Oklahoma State and Stanford on Feb. 18 at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex if you want to catch the nation's top team in action.
If you are scoring at home, that is four wins for the Gators over top 10 opponents in three different sports in two days.
As they like to say around these parts, "It's Great To Be A Florida Gator."
That certainly was true over the weekend.
Perhaps your mood today is based on what happened in the craziest Super Bowl ever on Sunday night. Won't be hard to distinguish Patriots or Falcons fans around the office, that's for sure.
Meanwhile, if you see someone skipping toward the water cooler, there's a good chance he or she is a Gators fan.
In case you took a couple of days away or simply stayed away from sports until Sunday night, you may have missed a banner weekend for Florida's athletic department.
Where should we start?
Oh yeah, the UF men's basketball team welcomed No. 8 Kentucky to town and put a whipping on the Wildcats like never before. No, seriously.
The Gators led from start to finish in their 88-66 victory before a raucous crowd at Exactech Arena, Florida's largest margin of victory in history against Kentucky.
But there was plenty more for Florida fans to celebrate.
Looks like @stevespurrierUF really enjoyed watching @GatorsMBK defeat UK! #GoGators pic.twitter.com/d0Ze8y5Klt
— Florida Gators (@FloridaGators) February 5, 2017
The UF men's tennis team hosted No. 8 Southern Cal and No. 6 UCLA on back-to-back days and sent the West Coast powers back home with losses.
The Gators lost the doubles point in both matches but stormed back to improve to 6-0 and establish their place as a national contender in 2017.
"It feels great for our guys to get some validation for the hard work they've been putting in,'' Florida head coach Bryan Shelton said. "It's very early in the season – we haven't even gotten into the conference stuff. We just can't get ahead of ourselves."
Meanwhile, as the UF men played at home, the No. 1-ranked UF women's tennis team trekked to the West Coast to face No. 3 Pepperdine in a huge early season test.
Florida 5, Pepperdine 2.
Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist: 450 career wins.
A day after knocking off No. 8 USC, @GatorsMTN taking on No. 6 UCLA on a gorgeous Florida day. #GoGators pic.twitter.com/s32gXytnEE
— Scott Stricklin (@ScottStricklin) February 5, 2017
The Gators won the doubles point and Josie Kuhlman, Brooke Austin, Anna Danilina and Kourtney Keegan clinches singles win as Florida improved to 3-0.
"It was high-level tennis throughout,'' said Thornqvist, who is now 375-47 in 16 seasons at UF. "I thought we were outstanding."
The Gators return home to face Oklahoma State and Stanford on Feb. 18 at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex if you want to catch the nation's top team in action.
If you are scoring at home, that is four wins for the Gators over top 10 opponents in three different sports in two days.
As they like to say around these parts, "It's Great To Be A Florida Gator."
That certainly was true over the weekend.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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