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The Gators women’s tennis team is hosting the Southeastern Conference Tournament at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex from April 20-24. The tournament starts tomorrow at noon with Missouri versus Mississippi State. Florida will compete on Friday, April 22 at 9 a.m.
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Grab your tickets for the SEC Championships ‡οΈ
Florida opens competition at 9 a.m. ET on Friday morning!
ποΈ: https://t.co/TS8KOAJusv#GoGators pic.twitter.com/FnIzziIxpZ
— Gators Women's Tennis (@GatorsWTN) April 19, 2022
Looking Over the Season
Florida is entering the tournament with a record of 18-5 for the regular season and 10-3 in the SEC. With a solid 2021-22 record, their five losses were very close matches against the top-10 teams. However, Florida head coach Roland Thornqvist believes they have tremendously improved throughout the season.
Win over South Carolina
Florida finished off their final SEC match up with a massive 4-3 win over No. 23 South Carolina, giving the team their 10th SEC victory of the year. In SEC seedings, the Gators held the No. 4 position while the Gamecocks were right behind them in the No. 5 position. Both fighting for the final double-bye position in the championship.
In the doubles competition, the No.66 ranked duo of Alicia Dudeney and McCartney Kessler secured their second-consecutive win, 6-2. Not far behind, Carly Briggs and Emma Shelton earned a 6-3 victory and secured the doubles point for the Gators.
Moving on to singles, all eyes were on court six for the deciding point. Dudeney faltered in a close 7-5 opening against South Carolinas Megan Davis. However, the freshman composed herself and dominated the last two sets 6-3, 6-2.
After securing the double-bye position, the Gators enter the SEC tournament with confidence and eagerness to compete. Thornqvist believes his team played extraordinarily well in doubles and pushed through the difficult singles matches.
Team Improvements
Although women’s tennis has had a successful season, there were some areas that they needed to improve on. In doubles, the team struggled to produce three duos that could produce consistent performances. As the season progressed, their doubles teams got better and better.
Thornqvist spoke about how the team’s attitude on the court has improved.
Upcoming SEC Tournament
The SEC tournament will start Wednesday at 12 p.m. with the first match up between Mississippi State and Missouri. The second match of the day is Kentucky versus LSU.
Florida will be back in action on Friday, April 22 as a result of the double-bye. They will compete against the winner of Arkansas vs the winner of Mississippi State vs Missouri.
