With a statement win over the nation’s No. 9 doubles team, Florida delivered against South Carolina. They built on that momentum for singles play and secured crucial victories.
The No. 17 Florida Gators (10-4, 5-3 SEC) dominated the No. 24 South Carolina Gamecocks (9-7, 2-6 SEC) 4-1 in a Saturday road match.
In doubles, the Gators seemed to be playing at their highest level.
The No. 34 pair of Xinyi Nong and Nikola Daubnerova were quick to clinch a victory over the No. 9 doubles team in the nation, the Gamecocks’ Helena Buchwald and Lauren Friedman. The Gators swept past the top-ranked duo in a 6-1 victory.
The win marks the victory against the highest-ranked opponent for Nong and Daubnerova this season.
Florida’s Valery Gynina and Brooke Black continued to show the Gators’ strengths, defeating Kaitlyn Carnicella and Taylor Goetz in a 6-4 contest. After dropping five straight matches together, the Gator duo seems to have found its rhythm again with this performance.
With the Gators having the advantageous doubles point, they carried the momentum over to singles play.
No. 39 Gabia Paskauskas had no trouble getting past South Carolina’s Sara Borkop, clinching a clean 6-2, 6-4 win, giving the Gators the first singles point.
On court four, Black faced Goetz. The Florida freshman got the early advantage, leading 4-1. Black struggled for a moment and dropped the next three games, but quickly recovered to win the first set 7-5. In the second set, Black was unstoppable, defeating Goetz 6-1 and extending Florida’s lead.
Nong struggled against opponent Jana Stojanova, dropping her match 6-4, 6-3. The Florida senior snapped her two-match win streak in singles.
However, the Gators were quick to bounce back. Florida’s most reliable player, Lucie Pawlak, clinched a three-set 6-1, 3-6, 6-2 victory to give the Gators the overall win.
This marks the seventh three-set win for Pawlak this season as she continues to prove her talents on the court.
Florida extends their season record to 11-4 overall and 6-3 in the conference, already showing a significant improvement from last season's 9-14 overall and 4-11 conference record.
Next, the Gators face Alabama on Thursday. First serve against the Crimson Tide is set for 5 p.m.
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.
