Gators Women’s Tennis Faces South Carolina, Then SEC Tournament

With one game left in the regular season, the Florida women’s tennis team is ready for a chance at the SEC regular-season title and the conference tournament to come.

The No. 13 Gators (14-7, 10-2 SEC) boast five ranked singles players and one ranked doubles pair.

Singles

The highest-ranked player is sophomore Rachel Gailis, who climbed to No. 11 in the most recent Intercollegiate Tennis Association ranking. She has a 21-6 singles record, including wins over five ranked players. Coach Roland Thornqvist had high praise for her, saying she’s a top-5 player in the country:

Other Gators ranked in singles include No. 65 Sara Dahlstrom, No. 67 Emily de Oliveira, No. 80 Carly Briggs and No. 115 Qavia Lopez.

Doubles

Alicia Dudeney-Malwina Rowinska are ranked No. 45 in doubles. They are 5-0 since being paired midway through the season. Thornqvist said the staff considered personalities and playing styles when switching pairs after they were losing to start the season:

SEC Outlook

While the Gators still have a shot at the regular-season SEC championship, they need to win their last match and for No. 6 Georgia (15-4, 10-1 SEC) to lose. If they miss out on the regular-season title, Thornqvist said it will only strengthen the Gators’ desire to win the SEC tournament next weekend.

Up Next

Florida will host No. 18 South Carolina (16-5, 8-4) in the final match of the regular season starting at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex. The Gators will then head to the SEC tournament hosted by Georgia.