Florida Road: Women’s Tennis Play Two Conference Matchups

The Florida Gators women’s tennis team is on the road this week to face two conference opponents.

Florida is at Knoxville, Tennessee on Friday at 5 p.m. before taking on Kentucky in Lexington at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Recently

The Gators (8-9, 4-7 SEC) have been battling injuries as of late and are coming off of a tough 4-0 loss at No. 10 Oklahoma on Sunday. Despite a 6-1 win against Arkansas last Friday, Florida couldn’t win a point in Norman, leaving the Gators hungry for a win as they continue their road stint this weekend.

The Volunteers (14-4, 8-3 SEC) have been a dominant force in the SEC this spring. Although Tennessee is coming off a recent 4-1 loss to No. 2 Texas A&M, they had been on a previous tear of five straight conference wins. After winning eight of its first 10 matches of the season, Tennessee never slowed down, now sitting at fifth in a tough Southeastern Conference. Tennessee’s only SEC losses came against No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Texas A&M and No. 10 LSU.

Kentucky (9-10, 3-8 SEC), graced by six straight home matches, has faced recent trouble against two top-15 Texas teams. After three straight wins against Arkansas, Mississippi State and No. 25 Alabama, the Wildcats fell to No. 2 Texas A&M and No. 15 Texas in back-to-back matches last weekend. Kentucky will face another conference test prior to the Gators on Friday when it hosts No. 9 Auburn at 6 p.m. ET.

Rankings

Florida is ranked No. 34 in the ITA’s April 1 rankings and has two nationally ranked singles players. Rachel Gailis, a UF junior, moved up to No. 21, leapfrogging her previous ranking of No. 39. Additionally, senior Alicia Dudeney comes in at No. 75 in singles, improving from No. 91. In doubles, Gailis and Dudeney are the No. 13 pairing in the nation, with Dudeney also ranking No. 45 in doubles when paired with fellow senior Bente Spee.

https://twitter.com/GatorsWTN/status/1907146957614707049

Tennessee is ranked No. 6 and has three top-ranked players in singles. Senior Elza Tomase holds the No. 7 ranking, while juniors Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso hold the No. 34 and No. 69 rankings, respectively. In doubles, the Volunteers have five nationally ranked pairs, including No. 38 Auila-Britez Risso, No. 50 Tomase-sophomore Maeve Thornton, No. 52 Tomase-freshman Elim Yan, No 54 Auila-Tomase and No. 74 Thorton-junior Vanesa Suarez.

Kentucky is ranked No. 46 and has No. 60 sophomore Julia Zhu and No. 65 junior Zoe Hammond in the national singles rankings. The Wildcats’ only ranked doubles pair is the team of No. 80 sophomore Elizabeth Eades-fifth year Elizabeth Stevens.

Up Next

Since its three-game win streak, Florida has a 1-3 record and is still in the works of picking up the slack from recent injuries. Now, Florida will be fighting to get back to .500 on the season and looking to bounce back from recent misfortune in conference play.

Following two tough SEC matchups on the road, Florida will return home to take on another pair of conference opponents. The Gators will host LSU on April 11 at 5 p.m. before facing Ole Miss at 1 p.m. April 13. The SEC Tournament will follow on April 16-20.