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Friday, March 29, 2024
<p>Ingrid Neel hits a backhand during Florida's 4-2 win against Oklahoma State on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Ring Tennis Complex.</p>

Ingrid Neel hits a backhand during Florida's 4-2 win against Oklahoma State on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Ring Tennis Complex.

Before the Gators women’s tennis team stepped out on the court Sunday, Ingrid Neel was thinking ahead. The lone freshman playing in her first NCAA tournament was so eager to advance to the Sweet 16 in Athens, Georgia, she wasn’t even thinking about tennis.

“I was telling my teammates, ‘Let’s pick the outfits, come on guys,” Neel said. “And they said ‘We haven’t even won today.’ I told them ‘I know, but it’s fine. I’m ready to go.’”

With two dominant victories this past weekend over Massachusetts and Miami, the Gators will look to carry their momentum into Friday’s match against Texas A&M.

Florida is well versed in tough SEC opponents, having gone 11-2 in conference play this year.

The Gators are also seasoned against Aggies. Florida blanked the TAMU 4-0 in March in a match that was delayed due to rain. Even in the rescheduled contest, the teams were forced to deal with two weather delays as well as 20-mile-per-hour winds.

Texas A&M comes into the Sweet 16 following a 4-3 battle over No. 16 Baylor in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The Aggies, who had lost to the Bears 4-0 earlier in the season, got revenge on Sunday, and they will look to do the same against the Gators on Friday.

In the close and hard-fought match, the decision was ultimately determined by doubles play, where A&M houses the nation's’ No. 7-ranked doubles team in Rutuja Bhosale and Rachel Pierson.

However, this shouldn’t be a problem for the Gators, as they have won 25 of 28 doubles points and are 24-1 when they take the point. The Gators’ loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament was the only time the team has lost after grabbing the early lead.

Continuing as the No. 1 seed in the tournament, Florida will also have to look to another one of its strengths: mental toughness. As the team starts to play on a daily basis, coach Roland Thornqvist stressed the importance of playing with your head as well as your legs.

“In all my years, every team that’s won the NCAA championship has been a mentally rock solid team,” he said. “There’s going to be a time when you’re doubting, and you’re just going to have to find a way. I’m sure, at some point, we’ll have a moment like that, and we need to be ready for it.”

Florida will open its play in Athens against the Aggies at 7 p.m. on Friday.

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Contact Spencer Thompson at sthompson@alligator.org and follow him on Twitter @spencemthompson.

Ingrid Neel hits a backhand during Florida's 4-2 win against Oklahoma State on Feb. 18, 2017, at the Ring Tennis Complex.

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