COLLEGE STATION, Texas – This time, there will be no tomorrow for the loser of Friday’s women’s tennis match between No. 2 Georgia and No. 15 Florida.
Georgia and Florida, each with a victory over the other this season, square off in the NCAA Division I Women’s Championships Round of 16 Friday at 1 p.m. in Texas A&M’s Mitchell Tennis Center, and the winner advances while the loser calls it a season.
Florida (16-9), which got here with a pair of victories over College of Charleston (4-1) and Florida State (4-2) in the first two rounds last weekend in Linder Stadium at the Ring Tennis Complex, beat Georgia (24-2) during the regular season, 4-3, in Gainesville on March 13. But the Lady Bulldogs avenged that victory with a 4-2 triumph in the SEC Tournament semifinals at Fayetteville, Ark.
Florida coach Roland Thornqvist knows his players will need to be on top of their games if the Gators hope to move into the Saturday quarterfinals. Florida, which won the team title in 2003, is making its 26th appearance in the Round of 16 and sports a 23-2 all-time record at this stage of the tournament.
“Georgia is a fantastic team, obviously,” Thornqvist said. “They have great players at every position. We played them well at home and then we had to play them indoors at the SEC Tournament which, in my opinion, favored Georgia.
“One thing about (my) crew – don’t ever count them out,” Thornqvist added. “They’ve shown that and they’ve proven that all year long.”
Junior Marrit Boonstra, ranked No. 8 in the national singles rankings, is 33-8 in singles and 27-9 on the doubles court playing mostly with freshman Joanna Mather. Junior Anastasia Revzina is 15-5 for Florida at No. 2 singles and is 21-4 in doubles matches playing mostly with freshman Jessica Alexander. Mather and Alexander have been steady players at Nos. 3 and 4 singles. The other two singles players and last doubles team will be come from the group of Barbara Pinterova, Brooke Allen and Lauren Wolken.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
ROUND OF 16
Friday at Mitchell Tennis Center, Texas A&M University
10 a.m.: (3) Duke vs. (14) Arkansas (stadium); (6) Miami vs. (11) UCLA (grandstand),
1 p.m.: (2) Georgia vs (15) Florida (stadium); South Carolina vs. Washington (grandstand).
4 p.m.: (1) Northwestern vs. (16) Fresno State (stadium); (8) California vs. (9) Georgia Tech (grandstand)
7 p.m.: (4) Baylor vs. (13) Stanford (stadium); (5) Notre Dame vs. (12) Clemson (grandstand).