Lucie Pawlak found herself in the exact place she had been in three Saturdays ago: On court five, with all eyes on her as she battled for the decisive victory in a three-set match against the No. 11 team in the nation.
“Lucie, you can't lose, it's on you,” Pawlak said she told herself. “I gave my best at every point.”
For the second time this season, the Gator freshman proved she doesn't crack under pressure. Pawlak secured the victory over Tennessee’s Francesca Mattioli in a nail-biting 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 contest.
The No. 23 Florida Gators (9-3, 4-2 SEC) outlasted the No. 11 Tennessee Volunteers (8-3, 4-2 SEC) 4-2 in a Saturday home matchup.
Fresh off a win over Kentucky on Thursday, the Gators rolled in with momentum for a weekend match against the Vols. Florida has found much success in the conference, clinching important victories against top opponents and improving to 4-2 in the SEC.
Despite having a strong performance in doubles last match, facing the Vols showed the Gators still have areas to improve on.
The advantage started on the Gators side, as the pair of India Houghton and Pawlak took the first doubles victory over Tennessee’s Katrina Scott and Maeve Thornton in a 7-5 contest. The Florida duo recorded their second victory in a row.
Attempting to extend Florida’s lead, Valery Gynina and Brooke Black came close to clinching the victory against the 30th-ranked doubles team in the nation, Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Risso. The Gator duo ultimately fell to the Vols 7-5.
Despite being unbeatable for seven matches in the early season, Gynina and Black have yet to win again as a pair since the Feb. 26 match against Arkansas.
No. 19 Xinyi Nong and Nikola Daubnerova had a similar fate on court one. The senior-sophomore duo was defeated 7-6 by Tennessee’s Francesca Mattioli and Vanesa Suarez.
Down a point after doubles, the Gators made up for it in singles.
No. 72 Daubnerova clinched the first singles point for Florida after finishing Tennessee’s Audrey Aulia 6-1, 6-1. The sophomore Gator now carries a seven-match win streak in singles.
But just as they had tied the score to 1-1, No. 26 Paskauskas struggled in a 6-0, 6-1 contest against Britez Risso, the 20th-ranked singles player in the nation.
The Vol’s lead was short-lived, as the Gators’ Black secured a 6-2, 7-5 win over C. Aulia. Florida’s Gynina extended the team’s advantage as she defeated Suarez 6-2, 7-5.
After missing out on five wins in singles these past weeks, Gynina uncovered her fiery nature on the court again, clinching a dominant victory.
“This is the big chance for me to be back,” Gynina said. “And I’m going to take it.”
The Gators needed just one more win to secure the overall victory, and the responsibility lay on Pawlak’s shoulders once again.
Just like she did in the match against No. 11 Oklahoma earlier this season, the Montpelier native successfully held her opponent off. Pawlak fell in the first set 4-6 but secured some important points near the end. The Gator dominated the second set, going 6-3 against Mattioli.
After being tied in the third set, a game penalty against the Vols in the tie-break gave Pawlak the win.
“[Pawlak] is a true freshman,” head coach Per Nilsson said. “For her to come through twice now against top-10 teams is just super great.”
Defeating the Vols was crucial to building the Gators' confidence for their upcoming conference match, where they face the defending NCAA champions and top team in the nation.
“It's a good thing we're in tough matches like this,” said coach Nilsson. “We’re happy that we're pushing these teams the way we are.”
The Gators face No. 1 Georgia on Thursday afternoon. First serve against the Bulldogs is at 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.
