In just 30 minutes, the Gators women’s tennis team secured the doubles point against the Razorbacks, setting the tone for a seemingly unstoppable Florida performance.
The No. 6-seed Florida Gators claimed a 4-0 victory over the No. 14-seed Arkansas Razorbacks 4-0 on Thursday in Norman, Oklahoma, to open the SEC Championship.
Doubles was smooth sailing for the Gators.
The pair of India Houghton and Lucie Pawlak swept Arkansas’ Jimena Gomez Alonso and Alexandra Panagiotidou. The Gators secured every game point, going 6-0 against the Razorbacks.
To extend the Gators’ lead, Valery Gynina and Brooke Black dominated Brooke Schafer and Arina Babenko to clinch a 6-1 victory. Picking up their first ITA rankings as a pair last week in the No. 73 spot, the Florida duo has won three of their last four matches.
In singles, Florida fed off the momentum from the doubles win.
No. 51 Gynina flew by her first set against Schafer in a 6-1 contest. Despite a slight struggle in the second set, the Florida junior came back to win it 7-5. The victory takes Gynina's record to four consecutive wins.
Coming off an SEC Freshman of the Week honor, No. 103 Pawlak had no trouble facing Arkansas’ Babenko. The Gator led every set, ultimately claiming a 7-5, 6-4 victory over the Razorback.
On court three, No. 65 Gabia Paskauskas sealed Florida’s overall victory with a dominant 6-2, 7-6 win against Anet Koskel.
Being the most decorated women's tennis program in SEC history with 29 conference titles, Florida looks to claim another championship since its last in 2016.
Next, the Gators face the No. 3-seed Auburn Tigers on Friday at 10 a.m. for the quarterfinal round.
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.
