Gators Return to Action in Share a Little Sunshine Showdown at No. 34 Florida State
Tuesday, February 17, 2015 | Women's Tennis
Gainesville, Fla. – Following a nine-day break from competition, the No. 2 University of Florida women's tennis team returns to action in the Share a Little Sunshine Showdown with in-state rival No. 34 Florida State on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 4 p.m. in Tallahassee, Fla. The match is scheduled to be played at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center, but low temperatures may force the match to the Indoor Tennis Facility.
Florida owns a 54-1 all-time record versus Florida State. The only match the Gators dropped to the Seminoles occurred in Tallahassee on Feb. 28, 2009, when FSU earned a 5-2 decision and snapped its winless streak against Florida.
The Gators went 2-1 at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship, downing two top-ranked teams, No. 13 Clemson, 4-3, and No. 10 Virginia, 4-1, en route to the semifinals, but Florida fell short and suffered their first loss of the season to eventual champion No. 3 North Carolina, 4-0.
Freshman Josie Kuhlman was named to the 2015 ITA All-Tournament Team for her performance at the event, where she compiled a 2-0 singles record and a 1-1 doubles mark with fellow rookie Peggy Porter. Kuhlman was elevated to the No. 3 national singles ranking in the most recent ITA poll, pegging her as the top-ranked rookie in the country. Freshman Brooke Austin remains the No. 6-ranked singles player and boasts a 3-0 dual match singles mark through six matches played. Austin and sophomore Kourtney Keegan make up the No. 4-ranked duo in the country, and hold a perfect 5-0 mark in doubles on the young season.
Thornqvist's Thoughts – Head Coach Roland Thornqvist
On facing Florida State on their home court in Tallahassee…
It's always an interesting match. They don't like us much up there in any sport, really. And in tennis they tend to get a little rowdy right next to the courts, so that's going to be a great test for us to see if we can keep composure.
On scouting Florida State…
We saw them at Regionals in the fall and I know they have three really dangerous players at No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 singles. We're familiar with their No. 1 player [Daneika Borthwick]. She's a senior so we've played against her for three years. But then they have some new players at the bottom of the line-up who we don't know anything about. It's going to be cold, it looks like we'll be playing in the mid-50s, so you've got to be ready to go right away. I think we're going to play the old format. The no-ad scoring is sort of on hold. The doubles point is just going to be longer. We'll play to eight games instead of six. But overall, I think for the Florida Gators we like to play long matches, that's been our history here, so the longer the match, the better. But it'll be cold, it'll be dark, they'll be yelling at us. Our freshmen need to be ready and have thick skin.
Last Time:
The last meeting between the Gators and the Seminoles occurred on Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014, in Gainesville. Florida shut out Florida State, 7-0. Kourtney Keegan and Brianna Morgan clinched the doubles point at the No. 2 position, while No. 34 Keegan earned the match-winning singles victory over Majlena Pedersen at No. 5 in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0.
Florida vs. In-State Opponents:
Florida seeks its 200th victory against a fellow Sunshine State opponent on Wednesday. The Gators are currently 199-33 overall against in-state rivals, and have reeled off 21-straight wins versus programs native to Florida. The most recent win over an in-state opponent occurred on Jan. 28, 2015, when the No. 2 Gators swept the No. 53 USF Bulls, 7-0, in Gainesville.
#2 Florida at #34 Florida State
Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 4:00 p.m.
Scott Speicher Tennis Center OR Indoor Tennis Facility
Live Stats: Link to be announced
Notes: http://www.gatorzone.com/tennis/women/stats/notes/pre/20150218160000.pdf
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