As if the No. 2 Gators needed a bigger target on their back, their historic home winning streak has created one.
The defending national champions have now won 101 consecutive home matches, and that streak has created extra motivation for opponents. Perhaps the greatest challenge to the streak this season will occur today, when No. 5 Duke visits Gainesville.
“They’re a really good team,” Allie Will said. “I know they’ll come prepared, and I’m sure they know of our winning streak, so they’ll be even more excited to play us.”
Duke has been a yearly opponent for the Gators since the 2009-10 season, and Florida has done well against the fellow national powerhouse. During that 2010 dual-match season, the Gators defeated the Blue Devils 7-0. Last year, UF won both matches, with one coming in the ITA National Indoors Semifinal.
Riding a five-match winning streak, Florida hopes to continue that success against Duke today at Linder Stadium at 3 p.m.
Typically, the Gators have played non-conference teams such as Duke before getting into the Southeastern Conference schedule. However, this year’s match comes sandwiched between conference matches.
As of the latest rankings, Duke will be the final top-10 team UF will play during the regular season. None of the remaining teams on the schedule rank higher than No. 14 Alabama.
“It’s going to be a fun match,” junior Lauren Embree said. “It’s always really competitive, they always have a great team and they bring everything they have to come play us. “
Coach Roland Thornqvist said that the matches are typically set around the Blue Devils’ schedule, which requires that they play indoors in January and February. This year, it happened that the match fell in mid-March.
“It’s good for us,” he said. “If it’s 82 (degrees) when we play at 3 o’clock, then that’s certainly a strength for the Gators. I think we’re ready.”
