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Florida Gators women’s tennis will host Arkansas on Friday at 5 p.m. before heading to Norman, Okla., on Sunday to face No. 10 Oklahoma at 2 p.m. ET.
Recently
Despite winning three straight games against Mississippi State, Alabama and Morgan State, the Gators lost two conference games at home last weekend, stunting their momentum in SEC play. After looking the best they had all season in a 4-3 thrilling win over No. 21 Alabama, Florida dropped two straight matches to Missouri and Vanderbilt, 4-3 and 5-2, respectively, and now will look to regain its footing.
Arkansas has struggled as of late, finding itself with a 4-12 (1-8 SEC) record. The Razorbacks have lost 11 of their last 12 matches and will look to turn their luck around in their visit to Gainesville.
Oklahoma has the opposite story to tell, sitting at a successful 12-5 (5-4 SEC), and will face No. 8 Auburn in a final road test before traveling to Florida.
Rankings
Florida fell out of the top 25 to No. 31 in the ITA’s most recent rankings. Arkansas is unranked, while Oklahoma, the No. 10 team in the nation, will provide a contrast of high-level competition for the Gators this weekend.
UF junior Rachel Gailis is ranked No. 39 in singles while senior Alicia Dudeney comes in at No. 91. Junior Carolina Gomez Alonso is the only ranked player for Arkansas in singles at No. 74, but a powerful Oklahoma team will have four ranked singles players for Florida to face. No. 19 junior Julia Garcia Ruiz, No 26. senior Alina Shcherbinina, No. 70 senior Emma Staker and No. 103 freshman Salakthip Ounmuang round out the Sooner’s elite singles attack, all with impressive records in singles play.
Gailis and Dudeney are the No. 6 doubles pairing in the nation, with Dudeney also ranks No. 60 in doubles when paired with senior Bente Spee. Arkansas does not have any ranked duos, but four ranked pairs round out doubles for the Sooners. These pairs include Sooners’ No. 37 Ounmuang and sophomore Roisin Gilheany, No. 50 sophomore Chloe Noel and Garcia Ruiz, No. 63 freshman Cara Mester and Shcherbinina and No. 90 Mester and freshman Emma Ghirardato.
Next Three Matchups
After its home match against an unranked Arkansas on Friday, Florida will look to prove itself against a top-10 team in its road bout against Oklahoma. Following Florida’s battles with Arkansas and Oklahoma, Gators women’s tennis will head to Knoxville, Tenn., to face the Volunteers on April 5 in yet another intense SEC-rivalry matchup.
