Roland Thornqvist enters his 17th year as head coach of the Gators.
Gators Picked Second in SEC Preseason Poll
Wednesday, January 24, 2018 | Women's Tennis
Florida opens its 2017-18 dual match season on Saturday.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The Southeastern Conference announced the women's tennis coaches' preseason poll, Wednesday, and Florida was picked to finish second in the 14-team league race.
The Georgia Bulldogs were picked as the overall champion and was Vanderbilt selected third.
In the current ITA national rankings released today, Vanderbilt is No. 2 in the country, while Florida is No. 3 and Georgia is No. 4. Other SEC teams in the top-25 include No. 13 Auburn, No. 18 Arkansas, No. 20 LSU, No. 21 Kentucky, No. 23 Ole Miss and No. 25 South Carolina.
"The SEC is brutal this year. This is the most balanced I've seen in my 17 years at Florida," UF Coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Last year, we didn't win the league and we won the national championship. I think this year could be the same. There could be as many as four or five teams that could win the league and four or five can do really well nationally. Our season before the SEC season begins is tough with Stanford, Oklahoma State and the list goes on and on, so we'll be ready from an experience standpoint before we start lacing it up against SEC competition."
The preseason poll is voted on by the women's tennis head coach at each institution and is based on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 vote.
The complete tally for the poll is below.
Let's Get it Started
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The Georgia Bulldogs were picked as the overall champion and was Vanderbilt selected third.
In the current ITA national rankings released today, Vanderbilt is No. 2 in the country, while Florida is No. 3 and Georgia is No. 4. Other SEC teams in the top-25 include No. 13 Auburn, No. 18 Arkansas, No. 20 LSU, No. 21 Kentucky, No. 23 Ole Miss and No. 25 South Carolina.
"The SEC is brutal this year. This is the most balanced I've seen in my 17 years at Florida," UF Coach Roland Thornqvist said. "Last year, we didn't win the league and we won the national championship. I think this year could be the same. There could be as many as four or five teams that could win the league and four or five can do really well nationally. Our season before the SEC season begins is tough with Stanford, Oklahoma State and the list goes on and on, so we'll be ready from an experience standpoint before we start lacing it up against SEC competition."
The preseason poll is voted on by the women's tennis head coach at each institution and is based on a 14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 vote.
The complete tally for the poll is below.
| Team | Points |
| 1. Georgia | 184 |
| 2. Florida | 174 |
| 3. Vanderbilt | 171 |
| 4. South Carolina | 140 |
| 5. Auburn | 138 |
| 6. Arkansas | 116 |
| 7. Ole Miss | 107 |
| 8. LSU | 101 |
| 9. Kentucky | 95 |
| 10. Texas A&M | 73 |
| 11. Tennessee | 61 |
| 12. Mississippi State | 47 |
| 13. Alabama | 34 |
| 14. Missouri | 16 |
Let's Get it Started
- Florida opens its 2017-18 dual match season on Saturday playing host to the 2018 ITA Kick-off Weekend. The Gators face Cal State Fullerton at 11 a.m., while Louisiana-Monroe and Marshall square off in the other match played in Gainesville.
- The consolation match will be played Sunday at 9 a.m. and the championship at 11 a.m.
- The winner of the Gainesville site joins the winners of the 14 other sites in advancing to the ITA National Women's Team Indoor Championship held Feb. 9-12 in Madison, Wis. As host of the final site, the University of Wisconsin receives an automatic berth into the national event.
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JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
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