Thursday, March 12
Gainesville, Fla.
5 PM
Florida Gators
vs
Kentucky
Gators host Kentucky Thursday, No. 11 Tennessee Saturday
Wednesday, March 11, 2026 | Women's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida women's tennis team (8-3, 3-2) returns home this week for a pair of SEC matches beginning Thursday, March 12 against Kentucky (8-6, 0-5), and concluding with a Saturday, March 14 meeting with No. 11 Tennessee (8-2, 4-1). Thursday's match gets underway at 5 p.m. EDT at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex, while Saturday's match begins at 11:30 a.m.
Florida split its two matches last week dropping a 4-0 decision at No 4 LSU, and besting No. 31 Ole Miss 4-1, helping the Gators maintain their No. 23 national ranking.
The ITA has five Gators ranked nationally in singles — Gabia Paskauskas (No. 26), Nikola Daubnerova (No. 72), Valery Gynina (No. 76), Lucie Pawlak (No. 88), and India Houghton (No. 103).
Houghton has been playing most recently at number one singles for Florida, and picked up her first career win in the spot Saturday when she beat the 12th ranked player in the country in Emily Welker 6-3, 6-3. Brooke Black is unranked at the moment, but a perfect 4-0 in SEC play in the number four singles spot.
Daubnerova and Xinyi Nong are ranked No. 19 in the country as a doubles team, and they lead the Gators with 12 wins as a pairing on the season.
Kentucky is 8-1 in non-conference play, but still in search of its first SEC victory of the season having dropped five straight matches to open league play. The Wildcats came close to upending both Alabama and Arkansas, but dropped 4-3 decisions in each instance.
Julia Zhu, ranked 112th in the nation in singles, and Zoe Hammond (No. 116) have been the top two players for Kentucky this season, with both spending time in the number one and two singles slots. Hammond is 8-3 in dual meets on the year (4-2 at number one, 4-1 at number two), including 2-1 in the SEC, while Zhu is 9-3 overall (5-2 at number one, 4-1 at number two), and 2-2 in conference.
The Wildcats have shuffled their doubles tandems around quite a bit during SEC play with five different combinations of teammates recording results through five matches to date. Most recently, Coach Shelley Jaudon went with Hammond and Zhu in the top spot, with Reese Sager and Asuncion Jadue at number two and Marina Fuduric and Ellie Myers at three.
Tennessee has been ranked in the top 20 in the nation since the start of the 2026 campaign, and peaked two weeks ago at No. 7. The Vols are 11th in the country this week after dropping their first SEC match of the season on March 6 to Oklahoma (4-3) They bounced back in their next match with a 4-0 victory over Arkansas. Tennessee travels to Auburn this Thursday before making its way to Gainesville.
Three members of the Vols are nationally ranked in singles — Leyla Britez Risso at No. 20, Catherine Aulia at No. 74, and Francesca Mattioli at No. 105. Britez Rizzo is 12-0 on the season including 9-0 in dual meets and 4-0 in conference. She has played primarily at number two (5-0) and number three singles (4-0). Aulia is 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the SEC playing predominantly at number three singles (5-1), and Mattioli is 7-3 and 2-0, playing in the four and five spots.
Although they aren't ranked nationally, Freshman Katrina Scott and senior Vanesa Suarez have both taken turns in the number one singles spot during conference, with each boasting a 2-1 record in SEC competition.
Aulia and Britez Risso are the 30th-ranked doubles team in the nation, and 2-4 in the top spot this season for Tennessee, although they haven't played as a unit since February 26. Mattioli and Vanesa Suarez teamed up at number one doubles most recently for the Vols, with Aulia and Scott in the second spot, and Britez Risso and Maeve Thornton playing at number three.
TEAM RECORDS
HISTORY
Florida is 45-5 all time against Kentucky and 46-3 against Tennessee, but the Gators lost each of the most recent meetings between the programs — 4-3 to the Wildcats on April 6, 2025, and 5-2 to the Vols on April 4, 2025.
GATORS LAST TIME OUT
Florida swept the singles matches to beat No. 30 Ole Miss 4-1 on Saturday, March 7. India Houghton picked up her first career win at number one singles topping the 12th-ranked player in the nation in Emily Welker 6-3, 6-3.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Gators are back on the road next week traveling to No. 1 Georgia on Thursday, March 19 at 5 p.m. and No. 22 South Carolina on Saturday, March 21 at 1 p.m.
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| WATCH (Kentucky / Tennessee) | LIVE STATS (Kentucky / Tennessee) |
Florida split its two matches last week dropping a 4-0 decision at No 4 LSU, and besting No. 31 Ole Miss 4-1, helping the Gators maintain their No. 23 national ranking.
The ITA has five Gators ranked nationally in singles — Gabia Paskauskas (No. 26), Nikola Daubnerova (No. 72), Valery Gynina (No. 76), Lucie Pawlak (No. 88), and India Houghton (No. 103).
Houghton has been playing most recently at number one singles for Florida, and picked up her first career win in the spot Saturday when she beat the 12th ranked player in the country in Emily Welker 6-3, 6-3. Brooke Black is unranked at the moment, but a perfect 4-0 in SEC play in the number four singles spot.
Daubnerova and Xinyi Nong are ranked No. 19 in the country as a doubles team, and they lead the Gators with 12 wins as a pairing on the season.
Kentucky is 8-1 in non-conference play, but still in search of its first SEC victory of the season having dropped five straight matches to open league play. The Wildcats came close to upending both Alabama and Arkansas, but dropped 4-3 decisions in each instance.
Julia Zhu, ranked 112th in the nation in singles, and Zoe Hammond (No. 116) have been the top two players for Kentucky this season, with both spending time in the number one and two singles slots. Hammond is 8-3 in dual meets on the year (4-2 at number one, 4-1 at number two), including 2-1 in the SEC, while Zhu is 9-3 overall (5-2 at number one, 4-1 at number two), and 2-2 in conference.
The Wildcats have shuffled their doubles tandems around quite a bit during SEC play with five different combinations of teammates recording results through five matches to date. Most recently, Coach Shelley Jaudon went with Hammond and Zhu in the top spot, with Reese Sager and Asuncion Jadue at number two and Marina Fuduric and Ellie Myers at three.
Tennessee has been ranked in the top 20 in the nation since the start of the 2026 campaign, and peaked two weeks ago at No. 7. The Vols are 11th in the country this week after dropping their first SEC match of the season on March 6 to Oklahoma (4-3) They bounced back in their next match with a 4-0 victory over Arkansas. Tennessee travels to Auburn this Thursday before making its way to Gainesville.
Three members of the Vols are nationally ranked in singles — Leyla Britez Risso at No. 20, Catherine Aulia at No. 74, and Francesca Mattioli at No. 105. Britez Rizzo is 12-0 on the season including 9-0 in dual meets and 4-0 in conference. She has played primarily at number two (5-0) and number three singles (4-0). Aulia is 9-1 overall and 2-0 in the SEC playing predominantly at number three singles (5-1), and Mattioli is 7-3 and 2-0, playing in the four and five spots.
Although they aren't ranked nationally, Freshman Katrina Scott and senior Vanesa Suarez have both taken turns in the number one singles spot during conference, with each boasting a 2-1 record in SEC competition.
Aulia and Britez Risso are the 30th-ranked doubles team in the nation, and 2-4 in the top spot this season for Tennessee, although they haven't played as a unit since February 26. Mattioli and Vanesa Suarez teamed up at number one doubles most recently for the Vols, with Aulia and Scott in the second spot, and Britez Risso and Maeve Thornton playing at number three.
TEAM RECORDS
| Rank | Team | W-L | Notes |
| No. 23 | Florida | 8-3, 3-2 | One win away from matching 2025 SEC win total |
| Kentucky | 8-6, 0-5 | 8-1 in non-conference, two 4-3 losses in SEC play | |
| No. 11 | Tennessee | 8-2, 4-1 | Ranked in the top 20 all season long, peak of No. 7 |
HISTORY
Florida is 45-5 all time against Kentucky and 46-3 against Tennessee, but the Gators lost each of the most recent meetings between the programs — 4-3 to the Wildcats on April 6, 2025, and 5-2 to the Vols on April 4, 2025.
GATORS LAST TIME OUT
Florida swept the singles matches to beat No. 30 Ole Miss 4-1 on Saturday, March 7. India Houghton picked up her first career win at number one singles topping the 12th-ranked player in the nation in Emily Welker 6-3, 6-3.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Gators are back on the road next week traveling to No. 1 Georgia on Thursday, March 19 at 5 p.m. and No. 22 South Carolina on Saturday, March 21 at 1 p.m.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: X | Facebook | Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
Players Mentioned
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