Gator News & Notes Monday August 21, 2023

Gator News & Notes for Monday August 21, 2023:

Florida’s Lena Bailey is SEC Freshman Soccer Player of the Week

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida’s Lena Bailey claims the season’s first Southeastern Conference Freshman Soccer Player of the Week honor after scoring the game winner last night versus Maryland.

Other weekly SEC winners include Tennessee’s Kameron Simmonds (Offensive) and Mississippi State’s Maddy Anderson (Defensive).

Quick Look at Bailey’s Performance:

* Bailey’s first collegiate goal proved to be the game winner in Florida’s 1-0 victory versus Maryland.

* Six minutes after entering Sunday’s match, Bailey took a throw-in at the top corner of the box. Bailey received the ball, spun to distance her defender and then took a couple of steps before sending a right-footed shot to the far corner.

* Bailey also had a shot on goal in Florida’s opener versus East Carolina.

* One of two SEC freshmen to score game-winners in run of play in first weekend of season

* As a prep, Bailey lettered in six different sports at Tampa Catholic High School

Next Up:

Florida hits the road for the first time this season, heading south to face Miami. The Hurricanes opened the season with a 3-0 road win at Stetson and returned home to tie Florida Atlantic 1-1 on Sunday.

Miami Date: Thursday, Aug. 24 Time: 6 p.m. ET Site: Cobb Stadium Admission: Free

GATOR TALK IS BACK:

This year's edition of Gator Talk, presented by Dream Finders Homes, debuts Thursday, Aug. 24 at 7 p.m. from Celebration Pointe at The Keys Restaurant. The show will mark the first of 14 shows during the 2023 football season hosted by the Voice of the Gators Sean Kelley.

The debut show will feature University of Florida's Athletic Director Scott Stricklin. Gators second-year football Head Coach Billy Napier will join Kelley starting with the second show of the season on Tuesday, Aug. 29 leading up to the Gators' season opener at Utah.

The show will continue to air every Thursday of each week after the Gators' Aug. 31 matchup in Salt Lake City. Fans in attendance of each show will have the opportunity to win prizes, such as exclusive gameday experiences, helmets, tickets and more. Fans will also have the opportunity to meet and interact with Gators mascots and cheer team. Napier, along with select football student athletes, will appear in 11 of the 14 shows.

Gators Women's Basketball Head Coach Kelly Rae Finley will join the show on Nov. 30. Gator Talk is a weekly hour-long program covering the latest in Gator Football. The show is available across all 38 affiliates of the Gator Sports Network from LEARFIELD, the Florida Gators Mobile App, on and on the Varsity Mobile App. The show will air from 7 - 8 p.m.

Florida Tennis Unveils the 2023-24 Women's Schedule

The Florida Gators are set to play in a series of road tournaments this fall and will host 13 times throughout the season. The challenging slate comes to the Gators after a significant run in the 2022-23 postseason.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. - The Florida women's tennis team has officially announced their 2023-24 slate with a challenging schedule that brings seven opponents to the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex in the spring.

The Spring portion of the schedule includes matches against 11 teams that qualified for the 2023 NCAA Tournament (Florida State Michigan, Pepperdine, LSU, Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina). Three of those teams made it to the 2023 championship quarterfinals (Michigan, Georgia, and Texas A&M), with Georgia advancing to the semi-finals.

The Gators will officially kick off the season on Friday, September 15th, in Chapel Hill at the Kitty Harrison Invitational. The three-day tournament is traditionally an invite-only event featuring the top players in the nation from the year prior. Other events in the September slate for Florida include the Lubbock 15K (Sept. 18), the Bedford Cup (TBD), and the ITA-All Americans Pre-Qualifying (Sept. 30).

The ITA All-Americans will continue into October with the Qualifying and Main Draw spanning from October 2 to October 8 in Cary, North Carolina. The Gators will make one more stop in South Carolina for the Florence 25K (Oct. 9) before hosting the ITA Regional Championships at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex (Oct. 19). The final leg of the October slate will be at the Norman 15K (Oct. 30), in Oklahoma.

To start November, Florida will travel to San Diego for the ITA National Fall Championships (Nov. 1), followed by an in-state trip to Jacksonville for the UNF Invitational (Nov. 11). With no home matches in December, the Gators will return to road competition in January with the Freeman Memorial in Las Vegas, before hosting the Baylor Bears in Gainesville on January 21.

For the remainder of January, Florida will host the ITA Kickoff Weekend (Jan. 27).

February will mark the beginning of spring tennis with an initial matchup against rival Florida State on February 3. The Gators will then head to Ann Arbor to face the Michigan Wolverines (Feb. 6). Continuing on the road slate, the team will travel to Seattle for ITA National Indoors (Feb. 9), and head to southeast Orlando to play Pepperdine on February 24.

A two-match road trip will start SEC play for the Gators with contests against LSU (Mar. 1), and Texas A&M (Mar. 3). Florida will then have a four-match home stretch hosting: Georgia (Mar. 8), Tennessee (Mar. 10), Auburn (Mar. 15), and Alabama (Mar. 17). The Gators will get back on the road and head to Arkansas (Mar. 22), and Missouri (Mar. 24). Closing out the month of March, Florida will see two more opponents at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex: Mississippi State (Mar. 29), and Ole Miss (Mar. 31).

Florida will start April by traveling to Vanderbilt (Apr. 5) and Kentucky (Apr. 7) before closing conference play at home on April 12 against South Carolina. The SEC Tournament will be hosted by Georgia at the end of April with official dates announced at a later date.

The Florida women's tennis program qualified for its 35th-straight NCAA Tennis Championships in 2023 and hosted the tournament's first and second rounds for the 22nd time in a possible 23 chances since the field expanded to 64 in 1999. The Gators have claimed seven NCAA National Championships, the second-most in the history of the sport.

Women's Tennis 2022-23 Schedule DATE OPPONENT LOCATION

SEPTEMBER

Fri. 15 - Sun. 17 Kitty Harrison Invitational Chapel Hill, NC Mon. 18‐Sun. 24 Lubbock 15K Lubbock, TX TBA

Bedford Cup Sat. 30‐Sun. Oct. 1 ITA All-Americans Pre-Qualifying Cary, NC

OCTOBER Mon. 2 - Tues. 3 ITA All-Americans Qualifying Cary, NC

Wed. 4 - Sun. 8 ITA All-Americans Main Draw Cary, NC

Mon. 9 - Sun. 15 Florence 25K Florence, SC Thurs. 19 - Mon. 23 ITA Regional Championships Gainesville, FL Mon. 30 - Sun. Nov. 5 Norman 15K Norman, OK

NOVEMBER Wed. 1 - Sun. 5 ITA National Fall Championships San Diego, CA Sat. 11 - Sun. 12 UNF Invitational Jacksonville, FL

JANUARY Thurs. 11 - Mon. 15 Freeman Memorial Las Vegas, NV Sun. 21 Baylor Gainesville, FL Sat. 27 - Sun. 28 ITA Kickoff Weekend Gainesville, FL

FEBRUARY

Sat. 3 FSU Lake Nona, FL Tue. 6 Michigan Ann Arbor, MI Fri. 9 - Mon. 12 ITA National Indoors Seattle, WA Sat. 24 Pepperdine

MARCH Fri. 1 LSU Baton Rouge, LA Sun. 3 Texas A&M College Station, TX Fri. 8 Georgia Gainesville, FL Sun. 10 Tennessee Gainesville, FL Fri. 15 Auburn Gainesville, FL Sun. 17 Alabama Gainesville, FL Fri. 22

Arkansas Fayetteville, AR Sun. 24 Missouri Columbia, MO Fri. 29 Mississippi State Gainesville, FL Sun. 31 Ole Miss Gainesville, FL

APRIL Fri. 5 Vanderbilt Nashville, TN Sun. 7 Kentucky Lexington, KY Fri. 12 South Carolina Gainesville, FL

TBA SEC Tournament Athens, GA

(Special to 1st & Ten Florida by Florida Athletics)