Florida Gators
Tennessee
Tennessee "Overruled" as Gators upend No. 11 Lady Vols, 4-2
Saturday, March 14, 2026 | Women's Tennis
Pawlak was in a tiebreaker against Francesca Mattioli, and had already had five opportunities in the third set to close out the match, both for herself and the Gators. Mattioli fought back to lead 9-8 in the tiebreak, and when she called Pawlak's final shot of the day "out" it appeared that Pawlak had lost, and the crowd's attention would turn to Houghton and Katrina Scott at center court.
However the chair umpire banged his metaphorical gavel and overruled the call, causing Florida Associate Head Coach Axel Damiens to start celebrating. Damiens was one of the few people at the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Complex who knew that the match was over, and the Gators had won.
Let us explain.
In collegiate tennis, players are largely responsible for making their own calls, however, the chair umpire can overrule them. In this case, the chair had already overruled two Mattioli calls. The penalty for a third infraction is loss of a game. That gave Pawlak the tiebreaker and No. 23 Florida the match. Although the majority of people filing out of the complex weren't aware of the "why," they knew they were going home happy.
The win improved Florida's record to 10-4 overall and 5-2 in the SEC, while the Lady Vols fell to 8-4 and 4-3.
Doubles
The intensity both teams brought to the match was evident early on as Tennesse won the doubles point by the slimmest of margins, beginning with a 7-5 come-from-behind victory at the number two slot. No. 30 Catherine Aulia and Leyla Britez Tisso trailed Brooke Black and Valery Gynina 4-2, but won three straight games to take the lead, before securing the win. Pawlak and Houghton won their second consecutive match with a 7-5 decision over Scott and Mayve Thornton at number three to even doubles play at one apiece.
The early contender for match of the day came at the top spot where No. 19 Xinyi Nong and Nikola Daubnerova squared off against Mattioli and Vanesa Suarez. The Gators were trailing 6-5 and 15-0 with Nong serving when the senior rattled off three unreturned serves over the next four points. Daubnerova then ended the game with an exclamation point of an overhead smash, and the teams went to the tiebreaker. Nong and Daubernova built a 5-3 advantage, but Mattioli and Suarez won five of the final six points to secure the win 9-7.
Singles
Florida evened the score fairly quickly once singles got under way as Daubnerova improved to 7-0 in dual matches this season with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Audrey Aulia in the number six spot.
The 20th ranked player in the nation, Britez Risso bested No. 26 Paskauskas 6-0, 6-1 at number three, but Black dispatched with Aulia's sister Catherine (No. 74 in the nation) at number four singles 6-2, 7-5 to tie things up again. Black is now 5-0 in conference play this season, and has won seven straight matches.
At number two singles, Gynina (No. 76) won the first set 6-4, but was down a break in the second before coming back to win 7-5 setting up Pawlak's heroics. Gynina's win stopped a string of three consecutive unfinished matches, and Pawlak's was her fifth in her last five results.
Houghton and Scott split their first two set with Scott taking the first 7-5, and Houghton the second 7-6 (9-7). Scott was up 3-2 in the third when the match came to an end.
FROM THE GATORS' MOUTHS
- Lucie Pawlak on coming back after losing the first set to win her match and the overall match for the team…
In the first set I was down 4-1. I started my match, horrible. I missed all the balls. That was awful. But then at 4-1 I was like 'Keep going, just compete, compete. Come on Lucie. You've got this.' So I lost the first set, but I was really close, and then for the second set, I knew what to do exactly, which I did, and I won the second set. That was perfect. In the last set, I was up 5-3, 40-0, so four match points ... I was shaking. Honestly, she played better when it was match point for me, but still, I was shaking. I was paralyzed, I couldn't feel my legs or my arms anymore. And I knew that Indy (India Houghton) was losing in the last set, so I was like 'Lucie, you can't lose. You can't lose. It's on you. It's on you. Come on.' But the crowd, the men's team, everyone was cheering for me and that helped me a lot. I love playing at home. It's just wonderful. Because people are there for me and every point, behind me, and that was unbelievable. And honestly in the tiebreak, I don't know what happened. I just gave my best every point. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.
- Lucie Pawlak on what Associate Head Coach Axel Damiens was saying to her between points in the tiebreaker ...
He was giving me some advice, like tactic[al] advice. Every point, 'the legs, the legs.' And then playing my game to win the point, and thanks to him I won.
- Associate Head Coach Axel Damiens on what he was saying to Lucie Pawlak between points in the tiebreaker ...
Same thing we did against Oklahoma. I was like 'Hey, there's no-one else I want in this position right now. You've been there, and you've done it. Just be you, and keep going. Keep being aggressive and have fun.' She did a good job staying aggressive. But hats off to Tennessee. I thought she played unbelievable down match points, and she came up with unreal shots to stay in the match, and obviously an unfortunate ending, but that's how the rules are.
- Valery Gynina on recovering in the second set after she won the first, but was down in the second ...
I was just still competing. I was like 'Mmmm, I don't really want a third set (laughs), and my opponent, she was good. She might have good shots. And what? One break, I'm back. Four [games to] five. Duece. This is the big chance for me to be back, and then it's like 'I'm going to take it.' A few days ago after Kentucky I didn't finish as well, and I was liike 'I want to bring the point for the team. I want it.' And today I had the opportunity to finish it in two sets.
- Head Coach Per Nilsson on Valery Gynina's play ...
It was great for her. We actually talked about it yesterday. She was upset that she hasn't been winning, and we told her 'Well, you haven't really been losing either. You just haven't finished. Don't focus on winning. Focus on what you need to be doing' and today her matchup was a difficult one, and it was really important that she focused on what she needed to do, and it looked a little bleak there in the second set, but she kept going, and gave herself a chance.
- Head Coach Per Nilsson on Lucie Pawlak turning things around in the first set and picking up the win ...
I think today was really important for her because the Oklahoma weekend, she had a really good match the first match of the weekend and then she didn't feel so great the next one. And this was a similar one. She had a good day the other day against Kentucky, and then I know she was a little bit worried today about how she was going to do. I told her 'You've got to go out there, and you've got to compete and do your thing, and I thought she did a great job in doubles, and then I saw her kind of nervous in the beginning [in singles] but she got out of it. She could have won 30 minutes earlier (laughs). It would have been a lot nicer, but she's a true freshman so these are really hard situations to be in, and for her to come through twice now against top-10 teams is super great.
| Florida (#23) | 10-3, 5-2 |
| Tennessee (#11) | 8-4, 4-3 |
FINAL RESULTS
Singles
| 1 | Katrina Scott (TENN) | unf. | #103 | India Houghton (UF) | 7-5, 6-7 (7-9), 3-2 | |
| 2 | #76 | Valery Gynina (UF) | def. | Vanesa Suarez (TENN) | 6-4, 7-5 | |
| 3 | #20 | Leyla Britez Risso (TENN) | def. | #26 | Gabia Paskauskas (UF) | 6-0, 6-1 |
| 4 | Brooke Black (UF) | def. | #74 | Catherine Aulia (TENN) | 6-2, 7-5 | |
| 5 | #88 | Lucie Pawlak (UF) | def. | #105 | Francesca Mattioli (TENN) | 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (9-9) |
| 6 | #72 | Nikola Daubnerova (UF) | def. | Audrey Aulia (TENN) | 6-1, 6-1 | |
| Order of Finish 6, 3, 4, 2, 5 | ||||||
Doubles
| 1 | Mattioli / Suarez (TENN) | def. | #19 | Xinyi Nong / Daubnerova (UF) | 7-6 (8-6) | |
| 2 | #30 | C Aulia / Britez Risso (TENN) | def. | Gynina / Black (UF) | 7-5 | |
| 3 | Houghton / Pawlak (UF) | def. | Scott / Mayve Thornton (TENN) | 7-5 | ||
| Order of Finish 2, 3, 1 | ||||||
UP NEXT
The Gators are on the road next week traveling to No . 1 Georgia on Thursday, March 19 at 5 p.m. EDT, and to No. 22 South Carolina on Saturday, March 21 at 1 p.m.
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