At this time last year, the Florida women’s tennis team remained undefeated at 7-0 after winning the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.
The loudest voices on the courts of the Ring Tennis Complex prefer quiet before a match.
Nothing about the red and gray courts at Ohio State’s Varsity Indoor Tennis Center resembled home for Florida’s men’s tennis team. Losing the first four points of a dual match was just as strange to the No. 11 program in the nation.
In the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Friday, Florida’s women’s tennis team defeated Wisconsin in a 5-0 blowout. During the second round of the tournament against Vanderbilt on Saturday, the Gators were on the other end of a shutout.
On Wednesday, Florida women’s tennis player Josie Kuhlman lost the final set in UF’s match against Oklahoma State, clinching the Cowgirls’ victory. At the first round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Friday, she was an integral part of the Gators’ dominant sweep over Wisconsin.
Only silence traveled with the ball as Michigan senior Alex Knight launched a forehand deep out of play. The error settled Florida junior Alfredo Perez’s comeback victory on the No. 1 singles court and clinched the UF men’s tennis team’s first win over a ranked opponent this season. The crowd in Ann Arbor shut down immediately.
After senior Josie Kuhlman’s heartbreaking loss on Wednesday to hand the Gators their second loss in a row, coach Roland Thornqvist assured that the team’s level of play would be enough to lead it to victory during the season. At the first meet of the ITA National Team Indoor Championships on Friday, Florida will have an imposing first test to see if those words will ring true.
The Florida men’s tennis team will open a stretch of indoor play tonight on the road against No. 13 Michigan. Following a disappointing loss to then No. 22 Florida State, the Gators hope to adopt a more aggressive brand of tennis.
Senior women’s tennis player Josie Kuhlman couldn’t help but feel confident.
Last Saturday, the No. 3 Florida women’s tennis team walked into its dual meet against Florida State with a 55-1 all-time record against the Seminoles, but was swiftly defeated 4-1.
The Florida women’s tennis team is a tale of two extremes. With three freshmen and four seniors on the roster, the squad is a perfect balance of veterans and rookies.
Alone with only the sound of music playing from his phone and the power of his imagination, freshman Oliver Crawford prepared to serve.
As the scoreboard changed from five to six, Florida State’s Ariana Rahmanparast celebrated. She’d just clinched a decisive singles victory over Florida’s Katie Kubicz, ending a seven-match losing streak for the Seminoles against the Gators.
Fighting to save a fourth match point, freshman Oliver Crawford rushed the net only to watch the evening’s final ball soar right past him. The No. 22 Florida State men’s tennis team erupted in cheers after redshirt senior Lucas Poullain’s winning shot sealed the Seminoles’ victory over the No. 8-ranked Gators on Saturday in Orlando at the USTA National Campus. The 4-3 upset marks Florida’s (3-1) second consecutive loss to FSU (10-1).
Tied at 5-5 in a decisive third set, Johannes Ingildsen had a chance to keep the Gators alive.
The year is 2009. The month is February.
Two hundred eighty-one days.
Andy Andrade wrapped his arm around his coach and smiled. He looked comfortable and confident. Volunteer assistant coach Scott Perelman had just joined Andrade on the sideline after the freshman concluded a speedy 6-0 first set win on the No. 5 singles court against South Alabama on Saturday. The two sat close on Andrade’s bench. They laughed.
Junior Alfredo Perez’s roar echoed inside the Perry Indoor Facility at the Ring Tennis Complex on Sunday. He had just turned the bad fortune of a serve’s awkward bounce off the net into an aggressive backhand winner. The shot kept Perez alive in the first set tiebreaker of a highly competitive match he’d eventually win, 7-6(6), 6-2, over South Florida senior Grayson Goldin.
Every competing senior on the Florida women’s tennis team won their singles match in a 4-0 rout of Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, leaving UF’s freshmen unable to finish their matches. During Sunday’s matchup with Louisiana-Monroe at the Ring Tennis Complex in Gainesville, it was their turn to close the dual-match out.
Solutions by The State News
