GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The No. 24 University of Florida women's tennis team (12-11, 7-6 SEC) travels to Lawrence, Kan. Friday, May 3 to battle No. 42 Boston College (16-10, 5-9 ACC) in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Women's Tennis Championships at the Jayhawk Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Kansas. Match time is slated for 11 a.m. ET as the Gators and Eagles meet for the first time.
Match Notes |
Tournament Bracket
Capturing its 37
th NCAA Championship appearance in the 38 years of the program, Florida earned an at large bid to the 64-team postseason event. The Gators enter the postseason with some wind at their backs, as they tout a top 25 ITA ranking and picked up five top 50 wins over their final eight matches.
The Gators feature two ranked singles players in No. 15
Ida Jarlskog and No. 30
McCartney Kessler as well as one ranked doubles side in No. 25 Kessler and
Victoria Emma. Kessler and Emma have earned an ITA ranking in five straight polls and at No. 25 hold their best ranking of the season so far.
Jarlskog, who has posted a team-high 13 singles wins, and Kessler, the owner of seven victories over ranked foes, both earned All-SEC honors last week. Freshman
Marlee Zein, joining Kessler and Jarlskog as one of just three Gators with double-digit wins, was tabbed to the SEC All-Freshman squad after 11 singles wins, nine doubles victories and two SEC Freshman of the Week nods.
Emma, who held a top 125 ITA ranking on seven different occasions throughout the season, came on strong for UF posting six wins after she was held out of the first two matches due to injury.
Tsveta Dimitrova, playing the majority of her matches at No. 5, has notched eight wins in both singles and doubles while Freshman
Sydney Berlin has emerged as a consistent contributor for UF at No. 6 as the first-year Gator has won her last three matches.
Facing a challenging non-conference slate paired with the always-daunting SEC gauntlet, Florida posted a 9-8 mark against ranked opponents. The Gators have faced 14-straight top 50 teams heading into the NCAA Tournament.
Head Coach
Roland Thornqvist, qualifying for the NCAA Championship for the 22nd straight season since taking over the Gator program, returns to the campus of Kansas where he spent his first two seasons as a head coach from 1996-1998. Taking the reins of the Jayhawk program at the age of 26, Thornqvist guided Kansas to a pair of NCAA berths during his stint in Lawrence.
Boston College, making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 1997 and second in program history, finished eighth in the ACC standings and is ranked No. 42 in the most recently issued ITA poll. The Eagles also tout a pair of ranked singles participants in No. 70 Yufei Long and No. 118 Kylie Wilcox. Both Long and Wilcox earned All-ACC Third Team recognition. In doubles, Jackie Urbinati and Wilcox combine to form the nation's No. 51 doubles unit.
The Eagles and Gators share two common opponents in North Carolina State and Florida State. In its second match of the season, UF dropped a narrow 4-3 decision to the NC State while Boston College fell 5-2 at home to the Wolfpack in late February. Both teams fell short against Florida State, as the Gators suffered a 4-1 loss in mid-February at home while Boston College fell 4-3 at home in March.
Florida is no stranger to close matches having played in 10 matches decided by one point this season.
No. 14 Kansas will battle No. 44 Denver at 2 p.m. ET on Friday in the first round following Florida's contest with Boston College. The first round winners will meet on Saturday at 2 p.m. ET.
Match Info
Matchup: No. 24 Florida (12-11, 7-6 SEC) vs. No. 42 Boston College (16-10, 5-9)
Date: Friday, May 3
Time: 11 a.m. ET
Location: Lawrence, Kansas
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Florida's Record at NCAA Championships
- Round of 64: 20-0
- Round of 32: 18-2
- Round of 16: 30-4
- Quarterfinals: 25-5
- Semifinals: 14-11
- Final: 7-7
- Home: 52-6
- Away: 3-3
- Neutral: 59-20
- As No. 1: 46-11 (3 titles, 5 runner-ups)
- As No. 2: 31-3 (4 titles, 1 runner-up)
- As No. 3: 5-1 (1 runner-up)
- As No. 4: 15-4 (3 semifinal appearances)
- As No. 5: 5-3 (3 quarterfinal appearances)
- As No. 6: 4-1 (1 semifinal appearance)
- As No. 8: 4-1 (1 semifinal appearance)
- As No. 9: 1-1 (round of 32)
- As No. 15: 2-1 (round of 16)
Individual NCAA Records (Current Players)
- Kessler - Singles: 1-1 | Doubles: 1-1
- Emma - Singles: 0-1 | Doubles: 1-1
- Kubicz - Singles: 0-1 | Doubles: 1-0
- Kessler - Singles: 5-0 | Doubles: 1-3
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