By winning kick-off weekend, two out of its three matches at the ITA National Team Indoor Championship and recently claiming the Blue Gray National Tennis Classic tournament title, The University of Alabama women’s tennis team has started its season.

To begin SEC play, the women’s tennis team will head to Florida on Friday and travel to South Carolina on Sunday.

“Heading into the SEC conference play, I certainly feel we’re well prepared and well equipped to get a good start,” coach Jenny Mainz said. “Get our teeth in there early, which is one of our goals, and the team is competing well so I think we’re on course.”

The Blue Gray tournament was full of tough competition and the team not only rose to the challenge, but conquered, Mainz said. Although she said she is confident in her team’s abilities, Mainz said she recognizes the fact that it is still early and there’s a lot of season left to go.

The team will be away for its first two SEC match ups in both Florida and South Carolina.

“The team is resilient,” she said. “They understand the schedule and the travel. I think they handle it very well.”

The beginning of the SEC season will be away, but at the end, the majority of the matches will be home in Tuscaloosa. The team is going to pay its dues now with all the away matches and reap the rewards later, Mainz said.

“We’re confident enough and ready to win in-conference matches, even on the road,” said freshman Aryn Greene, who made her 2015 regular season debut at Blue Gray. “We just need to focus on how we play and control what we can control.”

The team will be busy weekend after weekend with in-conference matches until the SEC Championships starting April 16.

“It’s kind of bittersweet,” junior Natalia Maynetto said. “We know once SEC starts that it goes by so quickly. I can’t believe it’s already here. I’m so excited. This is what we look forward to all year.”

Maynetto said she is excited to be going to Florida specifically. Originally from the Sunshine State, this match will be one of the few that her family will be able to attend.

The Crimson Tide’s match at Florida will start at 4 p.m. and the South Carolina match Sunday will start at 11 a.m.