The top-ranked University of Florida women’s tennis team plays host to South Carolina on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Linder Stadium at Ring Tennis Complex in the regular-season finale for both teams.
Fans can enter to win a brand new Flip Cam, as well as participate in the Great Gator Garage Sale! – Fans can receive free t-shirts, cups etc… on a first come first serve basis! Admission to all regular-season home matches is free.
Florida (21-1, 10-0 SEC) has won 11 consecutive matches entering Saturday, coming off of last week’s performances when the Gators handed Georgia and Tennessee their respective first league losses of the year and clinched at least a share of the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship and secured the No. 1 seed in the 12-team SEC Tournament.
A victory on Saturday against South Carolina (12-8, 4-6 SEC) would give the Gators the SEC title outright. The Gamecocks are coming off a 4-3 heartbreaking loss to Georgia.
“South Carolina is one of those teams that if you’re not ready, they’ll bite you and we’ll need to make sure we’re set,” said UF head coach Roland Thornqvist, who led the Gators to their seventh SEC title in his 10 years. “Although our team is young I’m not worried about that because our players just love to play and I’m sure we’ll be ready on Saturday.”
Florida is 34-2 all-time against South Carolina, including a 14-0 record in matches played in Gainesville. The teams squared off twice last year, including the Gator’s 4-0 win in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. The Gator’s last lost to the Gamecocks was a 5-4 decision on May 16, 1982 in the NCAA round of 16.
Florida has won 24 consecutive regular-season SEC matches (10-0 in 2010-11), which includes a perfect 11-0 record in 2009-10 and the final three of the 2008-09 campaign.
Florida enters the April 16 match against South Carolina having won 101 consecutive regular-season home matches – not including SEC Tournament or NCAA Championship events. The current streak is the longest of its kind in program history, passing the 71 in a row compiled from 1994-2001. The Gators last regular-season setback at Linder Stadium was on April 7, 2002, when Georgia defeated Florida, 4-3.
Florida also sports an overall program-record 92-match home win streak, which includes 15 wins in postseason play (SEC and NCAA Tournament). The Gators set a new standard with their 6-1 victory over Mississippi State on March 29, 2009, passing the previous record of 60. The last time the Gators fell at home was on May 15, 2004, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament to Miami (Fla.), 4-3.