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.
While most of the tournament in Madison, Wisconsin, is considered neutral ground, UF (2-2) will face the Wisconsin Badgers (6-0) in its first meet. The Badgers will look to use their home court advantage to lead them to victory.
It’s a story that Florida has heard before. The team goes into the meet with a 7-0 lead in the all-time series against Wisconsin, similar to the 10-0 series lead it had over Oklahoma State before its match on Wednesday. The Gators walked away from that match with their first loss in the series’ history and are looking to avoid feeling Deja vuafter Friday’s meet.
“Even though the loss at Oklahoma State was tough, it showed us where we stand,” senior Anna Danilina, an important part of the team’s victory in the ITA indoor championships last year, said in a release. “We needed that match to make us match-tough and ready to compete at the highest level at Indoors.”
Coach Roland Thornqvist believes that the level of play during the ITA indoor championships, which includes the top eight teams in the country, will greatly help the team moving forward.
"It should be fun for us to play a lot of matches here against some real quality competition,” Thornqvist said in a release. “The key for us in the near future will be to see how consistent we can be when we play."
Florida is scheduled to kick off its match against Wisconsin at 7:30 p.m on Friday.
A story from floridagators.com contributed to this report.
Follow River Wells on Twitter @riverhwells and contact him at rwells@alligator.org.
Senior Anna Danilina picked up a victory in singles play on Saturday, but it wasn't enough, as the Gators fell to Florida State 4-3.
