Last year, the UF women's tennis team revamped its roster. The 2010
Gators featured two dominant freshmen — Lauren Embree and Allie
Will — who led the team to a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
Florida advanced to the tournament final to play Stanford
University, eventually falling to the Cardinal and coming just
short of a national championship.
But
coach Roland Thornqvist said he doesn't care about that now.
"We
haven't mentioned it one time and we never will," Thornqvist said.
"Last year was last year, this is a different team."
That's one point that boldly stands out: The Gators are just as
different this year as they were the year before. With three
significant freshmen that have never been to an NCAA Tournament,
No. 1 Florida is approaching the tournament one match at a
time.
The
road to a fifth national championship for Florida begins Saturday
at noon against South Carolina State, a team UF knows well. The
Gators also faced the Bulldogs in the first round last year,
winning easily.
While Florida, the No. 2 overall seed, isn't expected to be
challenged by South Carolina State, Thornqvist said his young
players will have to get back in the swing of things after a 20-day
layoff. UF hasn't played since winning the Southeastern Conference
Tournament Championship against Tennessee on April 24.
“Twenty days is a long time between matches. We’re ready to play,”
Thornqvist said. “This team is young and really wants to
compete.”
The
Gators' youth has barely shown this season, as the freshman trio of
Olivia Janowicz, Sofie Oyen and Alex Cercone have accumulated a
combined 53-11 record on the singles courts.
Significant contributions by his young players have led Thornqvist
to call the trio "freshmen no more," but Janowicz said there is a
little more pressure heading into the postseason.
"It
can get a little bit more intense and you put a little more
pressure on yourself," she said. "Other than that, every match is a
match. We have to go out there with the same attitudes we have
before."
