The Gators travel to Tuscaloosa to open their Fall 2024 season.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida men’s tennis team is set to open its Fall season over the weekend with six Gators competing in Alabama at the SEC Challenge. The tournament will feature eight teams: Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Oklahoma and Vanderbilt.
Rookie Preview
Mattia Akcan: Akcan joined the Gators prior to the 2024 Spring season and will make his debut at the SEC Challenge.
Francesco Cordova: Cordova enters his first season as a Gator and will begin his collegiate career this weekend. Prior to Florida, Cordova was top three in the state of Texas and earned three ITF singles titles.
Bradley Paliska: The Cornell transfer and France native will make his official return to the courts in Orange and Blue. Paliska ended his previous season with a 14-11 record.
Veteran Profile
Kevin Edengren: Edengren joined Florida in the Spring of 2024, marking this tournament as the first Fall campaign of his collegiate career. Edengren manned court six and posted a 10-5 overall record in dual singles. Edengren ended his Spring season only dropping two singles matches during conference play for a 6-2 record again conference mates.
Henry Jefferson: Jefferson will also be making his Fall debut after joining the Gators prior to the 2024 Spring dual season. Jefferson sealed two wins for Florida last season clinching a singles point to defeat the Citadel and a doubles point in the SEC opener against Texas A&M.
JanMagnus Johnson: The graduate student will make a much-anticipated debut for the Gators after facing an injury that ended the remainder of his 2024 campaign. Prior to his transfer to Florida, Johnson was a three-time ASUN Conference Player of the Year for 2021-2023.
Coach Steinberg on opening the Fall season…
“Excited to get started and begin the mission that we are on. Guys have been working hard and can’t wait to compete together at the Bama Invite. I expect them to prepare the right way and play with great energy, focus, and intensity all weekend long.”
The first round will be doubles matches, followed by the first of two waves of 10 singles matches. The tournament will be held over three days with each player competing in one doubles match and one singles match each day.
MATCH COVERAGE
Full coverage of the match can be found through the following link:
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