Looks like the roster has been updated. As expected Kessler is listed as a grad student, so a big bonus year there. Also no surprise that Sleeth is no longer on the roster. That weird odyssey finally wraps up. In a surprise McGinnis is not on the roster. Got thrown to the wolves this season, but hoped she would develop and be a contributor. The two European signees have been added....to give us a grand total of 6 roster players. Sound familiar? The circus that has become womens tennis roster management rolls merrily along. 3 seniors, zero depth, and relying on 2 freshmen that aren't all that highly touted. What could possibly go wrong
This is my shocked face. I appreciate you providing the info, but I refuse to let myself try to care about this program again until RT is gone. It’s bad energy.
I don't understand how The Fall from storied 7-time NCAA championship program to struggling to maintain a full roster/failure to recruit elite 5-star players from Florida/sudden disappearance of 19-year assistant coach Balogh has not gained any traction. I would think there would at least be some rumbling in the collegiate tennis circles. Or angry dialogue, speculation, rumors propagating thru-out Gator Nation? Maybe a journalism major writing an article in the Alligator? But I've heard nothing. Google David Balogh and all you can find is when he was an assistant coach at FL Nothing current- it's like journalists have been paid off or have been threatened and cannot write anything on him. We were something like 55-1 vs fsu, we had never lost to Auburn...when failing to reach at least SF at NCAAs was considered an epic failure...Now we lose 5-6 straight to FSU, lose a 2nd round match to Kansas... epic failures that should never happen to this program. Unless I'm missing something, our facilities are top-notch (recently built 3 indoor courts, the stands could use some shading), we are a top 5 public university, only Stanford has won more NCAA titles than us...We should be turning away elite junior players, both national and international, we should be able to recruit top juniors from Florida and not lose them to Oklahoma St, we should never have less than a 10 player roster- less than 8 should not be accepted nor tolerated. It's not tolerated at Stanford. They always have a 10-player roster. We should be questioning RT on why he seems to always struggle to fill his roster with more than 6 players. We should demand answers. We should be worried and concerned with the state of our program. If this were our football program the head coach would have been fired by now
I tried to be apathetic towards one of the most successful programs not only in our athletic department but also in Division 1 NCAA women's tennis program (only Stanford has been more successful). But suddenly I get all emotional remembering when I was at Stanford watching the Gators, led by Lisa Raymond win our very 1st title. Stanford fans were chanting "Hey Raymond it's time to turn pro! Hey Raymond, it's time to turn pro!" I watched us beat UCLA (and almost getting kicked out when one of their players complained to the ump I was being too vocal and had to promise to be quiet) in the semis and then the next day watch us beat Texas 5-3 in the finals to win our very 1st NCAA title. There's only a handful of Gator fans who can say they were there to witness our very 1st NCAA title. Such an exclusive club!
It is inexplicable, and inexcusable. It's so bizarre to have won 4 titles, and also be the guy that has taken the program to new lows....seemingly without clear cut reasons. He has always had a thin but talented roster, but the margin has been cut too thin over and over and the talent has only been marginal. I've yet to find anyone that understands what's going on.
Agree none of this makes any sense. I like Roland but something is definitely off. I also like Becky Burleigh and she has been / is a great representative of my school but it was obvious these past several years her focus had shifted increasingly away from the narrow view of being the UF soccer coach. Take a look at Roland's Twitter account. Over the past year the content listed could just as easily have come from Becky. Please don't take this wrong as I have been a big fan of both coaches over the past decade plus. However, I believe you can remain in a position too long. It is only human nature to perhaps lose focus and motivation in a job over time especially if you have had early success. I know I fight this every day in a job position I have mastered and expect to retire from in the next year or so. Perhaps we are seeing something like this with Roland? The only difference is I do not need to research, recruit and convince top line international and domestic HS tennis players to come play for my school.
I am a member of that club that was at Stanford to watch us win that title. In those days, it was six singles matches followed by three doubles matches (each worth 1 point) and two out of three sets; a very long and stressful day and points in the match where it looked bleak; I remember Stanford fans heckling Andi Brandi and finally the championship point where Texas missed a return of serve in doubles; finally, a couple of Stanford fans after championship point asking each other if Lisa Raymond was turning pro; I have no words for our current situation.
Sleeth has transferred to Oklahoma. Yes the Sooners. A very up-and-coming tennis program that has just completed their most successful season in the program's history, finishing ranked #21, their highest ranking EVER! It totally makes sense for Sleeth to transfer to Oklahoma (NOT). So why did she transfer? The University of Oklahoma Women's tennis and the Big 12 is not a lateral move from Florida and SEC Tennis. Texas and Baylor are usually good (and we did lose to Kansas), and then the talent level drops. Maybe she wanted to play 1 singles? Or maybe she wanted to work with a coach on the Sooners staff? We will probably never find out the reason. But this is another matter that has transpired in the program that deserves a closer look.
Here are the comments after UF was eliminated in NCAA Head Coach Roland Thornqvist Overall thoughts on the match… "It was clear early on this season that we had challenges other than forehands and backhands and today, unfortunately, we were unable to overcome them. The most important thing to me, Lauren and our staff, is that everyone here bleeds Orange and blue. Our mission now is to mold our team next year into a mirror image of our senior Ida (Jarlskog). She IS the Florida Way." VERY unusual comments from the coach. Given that Sleeth mysteriously didn't play that day, it certainly seemed to be a reference to something going on within the team with her. If I had to make a guess I would say she wasn't welcome back.
Cleaning up culture is fine and if it’s needed then good, but the roster management is a mess and talent level isn’t nearly where it should be. Until that gets fixed it’s only shifting blame around in a circular firing squad.
Rest assured I do not find that an acceptable excuse. Sleeth has been injured most of her UF career. To have the ONLY other roster player be a kid that should have still been in high school and wasn't that highly ranked to begin with.....well he got what he deserved. Same season before, and season before, and season before
as you know, I am not even remotely a RT defender. Just saying that both things can be true, he can be horrible at roster management/recruiting and we could have a kid or two that isn’t helping culture wise. I tend to agree that it’s probably a cop out to some degree minimum, but I also think of past situations like Gorjak Gak, who even after being declared ready to return by our basketball medical staff still said he was hurt and couldn’t play (allegedly). He was forced out too. We don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes. That’s all.
Well, the roster just drastically improved for next Fall. It was always curious to me that she selected USCe over UF out of HS but at least now she has come home and adds instant firepower to the lineup. We could still use at least 1 more transfer to help shore up roster depth.
Excellent news. We should have had her out of HS, but better late than never. And I am not rooting against the program, if he proves me wrong then great. This is a decent step towards at least some form of stability.
Nice addition in Shelton. Didn't have a great year this season....13-12 in singles, 7-8 at #3 in dual match. Oddly was 19-3 the year before, 11-0 in dual match also playing mostly at #3. Not sure why the drop off, could be schedule difficulty, could be health. But there is talent there and Coach T is certainly proven as a developer. Still need one more capable player on the roster, don't want to rely on Berlin at 5 and/or count on one of the euro freshman to play that high.
Well, Roland got his 8th team member for the 2021-2022 season via the transfer portal and at the expense of the Lady Vols. This certainly helps the cause. Official announcement from the school: Women’s Tennis Welcomes Carly Briggs - Florida Gators Another note of interest. Carly attended the same HS in Georgia as McCartney Kessler. I don't suppose those two have had a few discussions about Carly joining the good guys once she entered the portal?
This is a really good pickup. Finally we have a full roster. 4 Americans and 4 Internationals is a nice mix of players.
Yeah. I think we will be weak at 2 (against the elite teams) unless Zein ramps it up another notch, but we should be much more formidable at 4 and 5 than last year. And we have options if somebody is dinged or scuffling. Also gives us a little class balance since we lose 3 seniors.
I would expect the women’s program to benefit from the National Tennis Center in Orlando much like the men’s team. Time will tell.
