Florida women’s tennis peaked at the right moment ahead of the NCAA tournament. Dominating on every court, the Gators showed out in their opening match against Toledo.
UF (17-7) routed the Toledo Rockets (13-9), 4-0, on Saturday to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
In doubles, the Gators didn’t drop a single set.
The pair of Brooke Black and Valery Gynina took a dominant 6-0 victory over Akuginova and Gabriella Rodon, the Florida pair’s fifth win in their last six doubles matches.
On court three, the freshman-graduate duo of Lucie Pawlak and India Houghton finished Iva Jankovic and JJ Scholten, 6-3.
After taking the doubles point, Florida continued to stay hot in singles.
Gabia Paskauskas served a clean 6-1, 6-0 win over Toledo’s Jone Ibanez in the first singles match, adding to her impressive 19-8 record on the season.
Daubnerova quickly followed, going 6-1, 6-0 over Annika Munson.
With the Gators in need of just one more win to seal the victory,none other than Pawlak delivered.
The Florida freshman dominated both sets to take a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Neha Guru. Pawlak continues to lead the Gators with an impressive 22 wins on the season.
Tournament play continues on Sunday, as the Gators prepare to face the winner of No. 12 Michigan and Illinois State. First serve is set for 1 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.
