JACKSONVILLE - North Florida women's tennis opens its home slate on Saturday against South Carolina State and Florida State on Saturday. The Ospreys face the Bulldogs at 12:30 p.m. before taking on No. 35 FSU at 4 p.m. at the UNF Tennis Courts.
The Ospreys return to the court after a week hiatus after playing in a tough Michigan Invitational to kick off the season. The duo of
Rafaela Gomez and
Mariella Calderon were the lone players to pick up a victory. The pair won 6-3 against Georgia Tech doubles Natasha Prokhnevska and Aleix Prokopuik. North Florida finished 17-4, including a 6-0 mark in A-Sun play, a season ago and captured the Atlantic Sun Tournament Championship. Calderon,
Michelle Valdez,
Luise Intert and
Quetzali Vazquez all return from the 2015 squad and look to have a repeat in the conference.
South Carolina State opened with a 5-2 loss against Georgia Southern to start its home slate. The Bulldogs were picked to finish second in the MEAC South Division. SC State is made up of a team of sophomores and juniors who helped the team finish 9-9 a season ago.
The Seminoles are currently ranked 35th in the latest ITA rankings. Florida State is 3-1 on the season, falling only to #29 Mississippi State at the ITA Kickoff Weekend. The team is led by Daneika Borthwick who is 2-1 in dual matches in the No. 1 position. Borthwick and doubles partner Yukako Noi are ranked 41st in the nation and own a 3-0 mark in the No. 1 doubles spot. After finishing 2015 with a 16-11 record and 9-9 ACC mark, the Seminoles are looking to make for the ninth time in the past 10 seasons.
After this weekend, UNF plays one more home match against Flagler before going on a five-match road swing. Flagler comes to town on Friday, Feb. 5 at 11 a.m.
