Gators tennis will enter the first round of the NCAA Tournament this weekend and face-off against Stetson. Florida was selected as the No. 14 seed and will host Saturday’s match at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Florida Gators will welcome Stetson to the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex on Saturday for the first round of the 2024 NCAA Tennis Tournament. Florida was slated as a host site after receiving the No. 14 seed during NCAA selections.
The Gators’ will also be hosting the Miami Hurricanes and Florida International. The first match will be Miami vs. FIU and begin at noon. Florida and Stetson will follow at 3 p.m.
ABOUT STETSON:
Ahead of Saturday’s matchup, Stetson is not ranked by the ITA but clinched the ASUN regular season championship title. The Hatters are currently on a 13-match win streak after defeating Florida Gulf Coast 4-1 on Apr. 21.
Despite being undefeated in their conference, Stetson has no ranked players in the singles or doubles categories.
TEAM RECORDS:
FLORIDA: 16-8 (11-2 SEC)
STETSON: 15- 6 (10-0 ASUN)
FLORIDA’S LAST TIME OUT:
Florida’s last match was against then-ranked No. 12 Texas A&M in the 2024 SEC Tournament semifinals on Apr. 20. Florida took a tough 4-2 loss against the Aggies, snapping its 11-match win streak. The Gators didn’t go out without putting up a fight in the tournament semifinals and secured the first point of the match in doubles play.
Carly Briggs and Qavia Lopez were the first to close out with a 6-4 win over Texas A&M’s Nicole Khirin and Carson Branstine on court two. Rachel Gailis and Bente Spee followed suit and clinched the doubles point in a back and forth battle against Jeanette Mireles and Lucciana Perez. Gailis and Spee took court three at 7-5 to give the Gators’ a 1-0 advantage going into singles.
Singles play proved to be a challenge for the Gators, only securing one win with Carly Briggs defeating then-ranked No. 19 Nicole Khirin 7-5, 2-6, 6-1. The Aggies took its four points in singles on courts one, two, four, and five to punch a ticket to the finals against Georgia.
Florida at the NCAA Championships:
* The Gators have earned a spot in 41 of the 42 NCAA Championships, missing only the 1986 event
* Including this season, the Gators have qualified for 36-straight NCAA Championships
* The Gators have the second most team titles ever with seven, trailing only Stanford, while collecting three national championships in the last decade (2011, 2012, 2017)
* Florida won three National Championships last decade (2011, 2012 and 2017)
* In 1996, Florida became the only team in NCAA women’s tennis history to sweep the team, singles and doubles titles
MATCH COVERAGE:
Full coverage of the match can be found through the following links:
Live Stream<https://floridagators.com/sports/2018/3/9/tennis-women-live-video-stats.aspx>
Live Stats<https://sidearmstats.com/florida/wten/>
NCAA Tournament Page<https://www.ncaa.com/sports/tennis-women/d1>
TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets may be purchased in advance through Floridagators.com<https://am.ticketmaster.com/gators/en/2024ncaatennis> or at the tournament site. An all-session pass is $10- and single-day tickets will be $7 each. Tickets for all students and UAA staff members will be free of charge.
Spectators interested in purchasing advance all-session tickets may do so by contacting the Gator Ticket Office at (352)-375-4683 or visiting the ticket page.<https://am.ticketmaster.com/gators/en/2024ncaatennis>
Gates will open for fans one hour prior to the start of the first competition each day. Please note that seating is on a first come, first served basis and saving of seats is not permitted
ITA RANKINGS:
Florida finds itself ranked No. 15 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. Three Gators are ranked in singles competition: Rachel Gailis<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-tennis/roster/rachel-gailis/16143> at No. 8, Carly Briggs<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-tennis/roster/carly-briggs/16139> at No. 56, and Sara Dahlstrom<https://floridagators.com/sports/womens-tennis/roster/sara-dahlstrom/16140> at No. 75.
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