A tough doubles loss set the tone for what was the Gators’ final match of the season, as Florida was forced to play from behind against Michigan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Despite hopes of advancing, the Gators struggled to secure key points against the Wolverines.
In the end, No. 17 Florida fell 4-2 to the No. 12 Michigan Wolverines on Sunday in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Opening with doubles, Florida had a rollercoaster of a performance.
The tandem of Brooke Black and Valery Gynina took an early advantage after dropping a 6-2 decision to Michigan's Reese Miller and Laura Rahnel.
However, things got rocky on court one, as Xinyi Nong and Nikola Daubnerova took a close 7-4 loss in the first set to No. 30 Jessica Bernales and Lily Jones. The Gator duo fought hard in the second set, winning six games, but couldn't close it out a win.
Nong and Daubenorva ultimately fell 7-4, 7-6, marking the pair’s first loss in five matches.
The graduate-freshman doubles team of India Houghton and Lucie Pawlak suffered a similar fate, crumbling against Piper Charney and Emily Sartz-Lunde, 7-2, 7-6.
Having lost the doubles point, the Gators needed to find success in singles play.
Gabia Paskauskas didn't find success in her match against Miller, as the Gator sophomore was swiftly defeated 6-2, 6-0. Pawlak followed soon after, suffering a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Bernales.
Holding one set leads in each of the remaining four matches, there was some hope for Florida.
Gynina quickly delivered, giving the Gators its first singles point. The Florida junior took a 6-4, 6-2 victory over No. 8 Charney, and Daubnerova built on that momentum. The Gator sophomore battled through a second-set tiebreak to defeat Rahnel 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) on court six.
On court one, Houghton was pushed to a third set against No. 24 Jones. Despite a strong first set, Houghton took a 6-3, 2-6, 1-6 loss in her last game as a Gator.
Jones’ win sealed the victory for Michigan, ending the match in a 4-2 win for the Wolverines. The victory advanced Michigan to the round of 16 in the NCAA Tournament, while Florida saw its season come to an end.
Despite the defeat, Florida can look back at an impressive season. The Gators held a top-20 ranking for a majority of the season and made a comeback in the conference spotlight. At various points, every player on the seven-woman roster cracked the nation’s top 125 in singles. Entering the weekend, the team featured five ranked singles competitors along with two doubles pairs in the national rankings.
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.
