A rocky start to the weekend wasn't enough to shake the Gators’ confidence Sunday.
After falling to No. 13 Auburn in their SEC conference opener Saturday, the Gators made just the right adjustments and quickly bounced back against Bethune-Cookman. The Gators clinched every possible point on the court, finishing off the Wildcats 7-0. With the win, UF improved to 5-0 all-time against Bethune-Cookman.
Doubles play commenced with the No. 23 doubles team of Xinyi Nong and Nikola Daubnerova refusing to lose at home again. They challenged the Wildcat pair of Rosalida Asumwa and Maria Romero Vargas, storming past them in a 6-1 contest.
The second doubles point was awarded to Florida automatically due to the limited number of Bethune-Cookman players.
After a dominant showing in doubles, the Gators pushed their strength through to the next phase.
Securing the first singles point was Lucie Pawlak, who secured a dominant double bagel victory, 6-0, 6-0, over Bethune-Cookman’s Zahara El-Zein. The freshman Gator displayed a consistent strength she lacked in her singles match against Auburn on Saturday.
“I’m proud of myself for this,” Pawlak said. “I won 6-0, 6-0.”
Florida’s Valery Gynina extended Florida’s advantage to 4-0 after defeating Bethune-Cookman’s Jalayah Shaw 6-0, 6-1. Florida senior Nong finished Bethune-Cookman’s Taylor O’Neil in a 6-0, 6-2 contest, continuing the strong form the Gator carried in doubles.
No. 23 Paskauskas proved to be indestructible in singles once again, going 6-1, 6-2 against Vargas. The sophomore Gator somewhat struggled in the second set, but quickly turned the game around.
“I started stepping in the ball a little more, being more aggressive,” Paskauskas said. “That was the main thing I did to change that around and keep my head in the game.”
The London native improved her singles record to 13-4 in the season, positioning her well to potentially climb the ITA rankings.
Daubenrova followed with a dominant 6-3, 6-0 win against Asumwa, securing Florida a clean sweep on Sunday.
The win against the Wildcats could fuel the Gators with confidence to continue facing challenging opponents in the SEC.
Florida travels north to take on Arkansas in a conference match on Thursday. Matchplay is set for 6 p.m. at the George M. Billingsley Tennis Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Contact Sofia Alamo at salamo@alligator.org. Follow her on X @alamosofiaa.
Sofia Alamo is a Sports Journalism freshman at UF and the university’s Women’s Tennis beat reporter. Her favorite sports are soccer and tennis, and she aspires to be a sports broadcaster in the future.
