The Gators hosted their last tune-up for the 2011 season on Wednesday as they squared off against the U.S. Junior National Team at Linder Stadium.
Comprised of the top 16- and 17-year-old tennis players in the nation, the women’s team certainly came to play as it faced Florida in both singles and doubles action.
No live scores or names of the players could be released because the members of the U.S. Junior National Team are recruitable athletes, a UF spokesperson said.
Junior Joanna Mather put on a strong showing at the event. The Gators’ leader was excellent in singles and paired with Lauren Embree as UF’s No. 1 doubles team.
After a subpar performance in Las Vegas last weekend, Mather and Embree communicated and played much better in this match, coach Roland Thornqvist said.
Wednesday’s performance was another step in the right direction for Embree, who is still working her back to full strength following a wrist injury.
“She’s looking better and better in practice,” Thornqvist said. “It takes time to get her confidence back, but she’s been hitting the ball well.”
Despite the team’s strong singles play, its doubles play still needs work.
“We’re not as sharp in doubles now as we can be,” Thornqvist said. “That has been evident in the past couple of weeks. There are a lot of little things we need to get better at.”
Thornqvist believes the team’s doubles play will improve as it begins to practice together more often, something that has been difficult to do the past few months with several players traveling to compete in different tournaments.
While certain pairs need to get better offensively and others must do so defensively, Thornqvist is not overly concerned about the team’s ability to improve.
One reason for optimism this spring is the team’s strong freshman class.
Between Alex Cercone, Sofie Oyen and Olivia Janowicz, the Gators have three players who have the experience and talent to be major contributors.
“We’re going to count on them a lot,” Thornqvist said. “They have played major junior competition and had great falls.”
