The Gators have just three regular-season matches remaining.
Gators at South Carolina Saturday, Huge SEC Implications
Friday, April 6, 2018 | Women's Tennis
Florida challenges undefeated and fifth-ranked South Carolina at 8 a.m.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Several Southeastern Conference teams were in action on Thursday and the majority of the 14 programs have three league matches remaining and none will have bigger implications in determining the conference's regular-season champion than Saturday's showdown in Columbia, S.C., where 12th-ranked Florida and fifth-ranked South Carolina meet.
There has been a second TIME CHANGE and first serve on Saturday at the Carolina Tennis Center has changed and is now set for 8 a.m., with predicted rain shows forecasted for the area later in the day.
Four teams remain in contention to win at least a share of the SEC regular-season championship.
Those four teams:
In the national rankings:
Who Plays Whom
Remaining Schedules
Streaks
Florida had its five-match win streak halted Sunday against Texas.
South Carolina rides a 13-match win streak, the second-longest run in program history.
A Glance at the Gamecocks
South Carolina Poised to Join Small Champions Club
SEC Regular-Season Champions
Florida vs. South Carolina: The Series
Saturday's Competitors in the Individual ORACLE/ITA National Rankings
Road-Sweet-Road
Quoting UF Coach Roland Thornqvist on South Carolina:
"(Coach) Kevin (Epley) has done such a quality job up there for a long time. This year, he has a nice group of veterans and talented young players and they really play what we call SEC tennis. They never beat themselves. They provide great energy and enthusiasm when they play. Now, they have athletes who can run and roll when they have to. They become really difficult to play and we have to be physical and mentally ready for something we haven't seen that often – a very enthusiastic team that's going to stay in there and never beat themselves."
Saturday's Match at a Glance
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There has been a second TIME CHANGE and first serve on Saturday at the Carolina Tennis Center has changed and is now set for 8 a.m., with predicted rain shows forecasted for the area later in the day.
Four teams remain in contention to win at least a share of the SEC regular-season championship.
Those four teams:
- South Carolina (10-0 SEC)
- Florida (9-1 SEC)
- Vanderbilt (9-1 SEC)
- Georgia (7-3 SEC)
In the national rankings:
- Vanderbilt is No. 2
- South Carolina is No. 5
- Georgia is No. 7 and
- Florida is No. 12
Who Plays Whom
- South Carolina, Florida and Vanderbilt will all play each other during these final two weeks.
- Georgia has already played the other three teams in contention for the SEC title and will face No. 32 Mississippi State Saturday as its only remaining ranked opponent.
Remaining Schedules
- Florida: at #5 South Carolina (April 7), host #28 Kentucky (April 12) and host #2 Vanderbilt (April 14)
- South Carolina: host 12 Florida (April 7), #2 Vanderbilt (April 12) and #28 Kentucky (April 14)
- Vanderbilt: hosts #33 Texas A&M (April 5) and LSU (April 7) before playing at #5 South Carolina (April 12) and at #12 Florida (April 14)
- Georgia: at #32 Mississippi State (April 7), hosts Arkansas (April 12) and hosts Missouri (April 14)
Streaks
Florida had its five-match win streak halted Sunday against Texas.
South Carolina rides a 13-match win streak, the second-longest run in program history.
A Glance at the Gamecocks
- South Carolina is ranked a program-high No. 5 in this week's Oracle/ITA National Rankings
- Three Gamecocks have earned a national singles ranking, while a trio of SC doubles teams appear in the national chart.
South Carolina Poised to Join Small Champions Club
- As the only undefeated team remaining in SEC matches with just three to play, South Carolina controls its own destiny to become just the sixth different school to win at least a share of the SEC regular-season championship.
SEC Regular-Season Champions
- Of the 38 all-time Southeastern Conference regular-season championships, Florida (29) and Georgia (9) have won at least a part of 35 of those, sharing the title three times.
- Kentucky (2005), Texas A&M (3-way-tie 2013) and Vanderbilt (2017) are the only other schools that have won the SEC regular-season title.
Florida vs. South Carolina: The Series
- All-Time: UF leads the all-time series against South Carolina 43-2 (UF at home: 19-0; Away: 17-1; Neutral: 7-1).
- Last Meeting: The last meeting against the Gamecocks was on March 11, 2017, when the Gators won 4-0 in Gainesville.
- Streak: The 46-match series started in 1979. The Gators have won the last 43 meetings.
- Of Note: The last South Carolina win was on May 16, 1982 when the Gamecocks defeated the Gator, 5-4, in the NCAA Round of 16 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Saturday's Competitors in the Individual ORACLE/ITA National Rankings
- Florida: SINGLES - #18 Anna Danilina, #48 Josie Kuhlman; DOUBLES - #13 Anna Danilina & Victoria Emma
- South Carolina: SINGLES - #31 Hadley Berg, #60 Ingrid Gamarra Martins #120 Megan Davies; DOUBLES - #65 Silvia Chinellato & Megan Davies; #76 Paige Cline & Ingrid Gamarra Martins; #79 Hadley Berg & Paige Cline
Road-Sweet-Road
- Saturday's match at South Carolina will be Florida's 15th away from Gainesville this season.
- The Gators sport an 8-6 record in those matches.
- The Gators have played 10 matches on true away courts (8-2) and four at neutral sites (0-4).
- On the flip side, South Carolina is 10-0 at home this season.
Quoting UF Coach Roland Thornqvist on South Carolina:
"(Coach) Kevin (Epley) has done such a quality job up there for a long time. This year, he has a nice group of veterans and talented young players and they really play what we call SEC tennis. They never beat themselves. They provide great energy and enthusiasm when they play. Now, they have athletes who can run and roll when they have to. They become really difficult to play and we have to be physical and mentally ready for something we haven't seen that often – a very enthusiastic team that's going to stay in there and never beat themselves."
Saturday's Match at a Glance
- Who: No. 12 Florida (14-6, 9-1 SEC) No. 5 South Carolina (18-3, 10-0 SEC)
- When: Saturday, 8 a.m.
- Where: Carolina Tennis Center in Columbia, S.C.
- Live VIDEO: https://bit.ly/2Eo0t7o
- Live Scoring: https://bit.ly/2GzTfTK
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube |
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
Players Mentioned
Florida Women's Tennis | Scarlett Nicholson Mic'd Up
Thursday, February 12
NCAA: Roland Thornqvist Press Conference 5-5-24
Sunday, May 05
NCAA: Coach Thornqvist & Rachel Gailis 5-4-24
Saturday, May 04
Roland Thornqvist Postmatch NCAA Second Round 5-6-23
Saturday, May 06
