JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - North Florida men's tennis opens the spring campaign with matchups against in-state opponents, Florida & UCF, in its first set of matches this season from Jan. 19-20.
The Gators were recently tabbed No. 23 in the ITA team rankings with the Ospreys selected first in the Atlantic Sun Preseason Coaches poll. The Knights also had three players make the final ITA individual standings in the final rankings of the 2023 calendar year.
GAME DETAILS
Date: Friday, Jan. 19
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex, Gainesville, Fla.
Opponent: Florida Gators
About the Opponent - Florida
- Florida holds a 4-0 record against North Florida all time.
- The Gators went 14-14 in their 2022-23 season and 5-7 in the SEC.
- Florida comes off a year with a win percentage of .602 after stellar performances in the past averaging a singles win percentage of over .700.
- Florida enters the 2024 spring season with six freshmen.
- Head coach Adam Steinberg begins his first season as the head coach for the Gators.
- The Gators enter the match off the back of a dominant performance at the Fighting Illini Invite with multiple freshman winning in their debuts.
GAME DETAILS
Date: Saturday, Jan. 20
Time: 12 p.m.
Location: USTA National Campus, Orlando, Fla.
Opponent: UCF Knights
About the Opponent - UCF
- UCF holds an 11-8 record against North Florida all-time.
- Looking for first win against the Knights since the 2015 season.
- UCF went 11-12 oveall in their 2022-23 season and 5-1 in the AAC.
- In the AAC, they defeated USF in the quarterfinals, but fell to Tulane in the semifinals.
- The Knights recently made the move to the Big 12 Conference for this upcoming season.
- Enters their first home weekend coming off of wins against UNC-Wilmington and Coastal Carolina.
NORTH FLORIDA NOTES
- The Ospreys are ranked first in the 2024 ASUN Conference Men's Tennis Preseason Coaches Poll.
- The Ospreys will have its lone freshman Chase Healey make his spring season debut.
- The Ospreys had a dominant conference singles win percentage of .750 in 2023 and a record of 30-10.
- Head Coach Matt Lucas enters the 2023-24 season with a 73-50 record in his six seasons with North Florida.
- UNF ended the season with an overall record of 16-7 and an ASUN record of 6-2, making the ASUN Championship semifinals.
