Gators Tennis Face Pepperdine at Lake Nona

LAKE NONA, FL. – The No. 15 Gators will travel to the USTA National Campus this weekend and face No. 13 Pepperdine on Sunday afternoon. Florida is searching for a win over the Waves after four tough losses on the road earlier this month.

The contest against Pepperdine marks Florida’s last non-conference match of the season, as the Gators begin SEC play next week in Baton Rouge. 

ABOUT PEPPERDINE

Pepperdine is currently ranked in the top 15, sitting at the No.13 spot. Individually, Pepperdine has three players ranked in the top 100 for singles, No.8 Savannah Broadus, No.13 Lisa Zaar, and No. 96 Nikki Redelijk. Overall Pepperdine holds a 4-2 record with wins over San Diego (4-0), LSU (4-0), UC Berkeley (4-2), and USC (4-2). The Waves only two losses of the 2024 season came from No. 1 ranked Oklahoma State and No. 6 ranked Virginia.    

 

FLORIDA’S LAST TIMES OUT

The Gators will enter Sunday’s match with a 4-4 record. The Gators started the season on a four-match win streak, going undefeated before facing No. 2 Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Gators fell 4-1 to Michigan with their only point coming from Rachel Gailis with a 6-4, 6-1, win in singles. Florida then traveled to Seattle for National Indoors and saw more adversity on the road falling to No. 3 Stanford (0-4), No. 10 Georgia (1-4), and No. 11 Auburn (0-4).

COVERAGE

Sunday coverage can be found through the following links:

Live Stream: Here

Live Stats: Here

HEAD COACH ROLAND THORNQVIST SAYS

UF Head Coach Roland Thornqvist on Sunday’s contest:

“We are trying to find some new margins and that’s what happens when you lose– you’re trying to look under the hood a little more carefully. We have found some green shoots that we are trying to grow and we are all very excited to start SEC play.”

ITA RANKINGS

Florida dropped to 15^th in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association rankings. Three Gators are ranked in singles competition: Rachel Gailis sitting at No. 40 Carly Briggs at No. 57 , and Emily De Oliveria at No. 67. 

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