Women?s Tennis Begins SEC Tournament Play vs. Vanderbilt on Friday
Thursday, April 18, 2013 | Women's Tennis
Second-ranked and third-seeded Florida begins action at the 2013 Southeastern Conference Women's Tennis Tournament on Friday at the A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre on the Mississippi State University campus.
The Gators (19-2, 12-1 SEC) play No. 6 seed Vanderbilt (15-10), which defeated No. 14 seed LSU, 4-0, in the second round on Thursday evening.
The match between Florida and Vanderbilt won't begin before 5 p.m. CT (6 p.m. ET) on Friday because it is the fourth match scheduled for the quarterfinals round.
Florida capped its regular season with a hard-fought 4-1 win against the No. 18-ranked Commodores on April 14 in Nashville.
Florida is 44-2 all-time against Vanderbilt, including an 11-0 record in SEC Tournament matches. The Gator's last loss in the series was a 4-3 decision on March 11, 2005. Since that setback, Florida has won the last 13 meetings against the Commodores.
“We're really excited to be here and ready to start playing in the SEC Tournament,” UF head coach Roland Thornqvist said. “We've done a good job this year of getting ready for each and every match and I think we'll be ready by the time we play on Friday against either Vanderbilt or LSU. This is a great tournament again this year with four teams ranked in the top eight in the country and another two in the top 25. It's going to be exciting tennis.”
VIDEO – 2Ways2Watch:
Head coach Roland Thornqvist and senior Lauren Embree talk about the SEC Tournament on the eve of the Gator's quarterfinal match
GatorVision: http://www.gatorvision.tv/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=2224087&db_oem_id=6500
And
YouTube: http://youtu.be/n_9QJxcNHDs
VIDEO: Travelling with the Gators – hosted by seniors Lauren Embree and Caroline Hitimana
WATCH here: http://youtu.be/IdY__JKN4nQ
After a three-way tie for the SEC regular-season championship, a draw by league officials determined Florida would be the No. 3 seed in the 14-team event. As one of the top four seed, the Gators earned a bye for the first two rounds.
Third-ranked Georgia (19-2, 12-1 SEC) was drawn as the No. 1 seed, while fourth-ranked Texas A&M (20-2, 12-1 SEC) was selected as the No. 2 seed. Eighth-ranked Alabama (18-4, 10-3 SEC) finished fourth to collect the final top seed.
Florida, which sports a 25-0 all-time record in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal round, has won 18 of the 25 SEC Tournament titles contested, including each of the last three.
Official SEC Women's Tennis Tournament website
2013 SEC Tournament Schedule
A.J. Pitts Tennis Centre * Starkville, Miss.
Wednesday, April 17
Match 1: #12 Mississippi State def. #13 Missouri – Mississippi State, 4-2
Match 2: #14 LSU def. #11 Kentucky – LSU, 4-2
Thursday, April 18
Match 3: #8 South Carolina vs. #9 Ole Miss – Ole Miss, 4-3
Match 4: #5 Tennessee vs. #12 Mississippi State – Tennessee, 4-0
Match 5: #7 Auburn vs. #10 Arkansas – Auburn, 4-3
Match 6: #6 Vanderbilt vs. #14 LSU – Vanderbilt, 4-0
Friday, April 19
Match 7: #1 Georgia vs. #9 Ole Miss – 9 a.m. ET (8 a.m. CT)
Match 8: #4 Alabama vs. #5 Tennessee – not before Noon ET (11 a.m. CT)
Match 9: #2 Texas A&M vs. #7 Auburn – not before 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT)
Match 10: #3 FLORIDA vs. #6 Vanderbilt – not before 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT)
Saturday, April 20
Match 11: Winner of Matches 7, 8 – 11 a.m. ET (10 a.m. CT)
Match 12: Winner of Matches 9, 10 – not before 3 p.m. ET (2 p.m. CT)
Sunday, April 21
Match 13: Winner of Matches 11, 12 – 2 p.m. ET (1 p.m. CT)
For all of the latest information on Florida women's tennis:
Official Website: http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/women/
Twitter: @GatorZoneTennis and @GatorZoneNews
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