If the UMass women’s tennis team extends its season beyond Saturday, the story will no longer be about Judy Dixon’s magical farewell run.

The Minutewomen, who face Florida, Saturday at 1 p.m., will try to pull off a potentially epic upset that would send shock waves throughout their sport.

Florida is the No. 1 team in the poll and the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

On six prior occasions, the Gators have won the NCAA Tournament, while six of their current singles players are in the NCAA Individual Tournament.

This will likely be the best team UMass has seen, not just this year, but probably ever.

Even coach Roland Thornqvist in a statement on FloridaGators.com had a hard time making UMass sound threatening.

“It’s fantastic to play at home and I’m excited not to have to play South Carolina State again who we seemingly always play in the NCAA first round. UMass is a team that we are completely unfamiliar with so it will be a nice NCAA atmosphere in Gainesville. It will be tough with two other great teams from our state here at our site. We’re just excited to get going.”

Dixon embraced the matchup.

“If I’m going to go to the NCAAs, this is great. I love it. Let’s go play the best,” she said. “What an opportunity. It’s downright exciting. I’m much more excited to play the best team in the country than I would be to play the 20th best.”

Dixon said her team would be playing with no pressure.

“The kids were saying Florida might take us a little lightly,” she said chuckling a little. “We’ll just go and play. We’re going to push hard and give it what we have.”

Senior Anna Woosley, whose fourth singles win clinched the Atlantic 10 Tournament for UMass, said the Minutewomen aren’t conceding anything.

“We’re going in like we’re in it to win it. We’re not going to overrate anyone,” she said. “It’s the ultimate no pressure whatsoever. We can play as freely as we want. It’s a good feeling. It’s pretty amazing to be playing such a high-level team.”

Playing in the NCAA Tournament means missing Friday’s graduation. Many of the players’ families had to adjust their travel plans.

“They’ve been rerouted from Amherst to Florida,” Dixon said. “If you’re living the dream, you have to make the dream work.”

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage

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