Florida Gators
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Test time: UF tennis teams brace for tough weekend (Update: women's match postponed)
Thursday, February 3, 2011 | Men's Tennis, Women's Tennis, Scott Carter
The No. 2-ranked UF women's tennis team is pitching a shutout.
The Gators are not only 3-0 as a team, but they have yet to lose an individual match, going 19-0 in wins against UCF, College of Charleston and Winthrop.
Florida coach Roland Thornqvist is ready to see if that impressive streak stays intact when No. 3-ranked Baylor visits on Saturday.
(Editor's note: UF announced Friday morning that Saturday's match against Baylor has been postponed and rescheduled March 30). For more information, click here.
“Things are going to get a lot tougher,'' Thornqvist said. “It will be the first time – I think – this year that we play a team who thinks it can actually beat us. Baylor is very talented. They have highly-ranked players and experienced players at almost every spot.''
This is one of Thornqvist's youngest teams with three freshmen, four sophomores and two juniors on the roster.
Thanks in part to the play of No. 1 singles player Allie Will – she has been playing at No. 1 while former No. 1 Lauren Embree regains her form following a pair of wrist surgeries – the Gators have played like the No. 2-ranked team in the country.
“She has improved a lot. She has become a much more powerful player,'' Thornqvist said. “She is certainly off to a good start. She has always been very competitive, very good defensively. So far, she is doing an outstanding job for us.''
Meanwhile, Embree continues to improve with the rest of the lineup following suit. The Gators enter Saturday's match against the Bears with a 94-match regular-season home winning streak.
Thornqvist expects the Bears to put up a fight for the Gators to make it 95 in a row.
“We need to be tested. We need to be pushed,'' he said.
Men Face Huge Road Test at Florida State
There's just something about Florida-Florida State. It doesn't matter if the schools are playing football, basketball or lawn darts – that's the way Gators men's tennis coach Andy Jackson talks about the rivalry.
The Gators host UCF on Friday at home, then make a road trip to Tallahassee on Sunday to face the Seminoles.
Jackson has an idea what to expect.
“This is probably their best team in four or five years,'' he said. “They are clearly a Top 25 team. This will be our first test on the road. We better be prepared because we're going get their best shot.''
