Thursday, March 26
Gainesville, Fla.
5 PM
Florida Gators
vs
Alabama
India Hougton eyes the forehand winner against Tennessee
No. 15 Gators host Alabama, Mississippi State in antepenultimate weekend of regular season
Wednesday, March 25, 2026 | Women's Tennis
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The Florida women's tennis team (11-4, 6-3) returns to the Alfred A. Ring Tennis Center this week for matches against No. 38 Alabama (12-5, 4-5) on Thursday, March 26 at 5 p.m. EDT, and No. 44 Mississippi State (15-6, 3-6) on Saturday, March 28 at noon.
The Gators went 1-1 last week falling to the number one team in the nation in Georgia, while beating No. 24 South Carolina. Those road results moved Florida up to number 15 in the nation this week.
With six conference games remaining on the ledger, the Gators are tied for sixth place in the SEC with No. 11 Vanderbilt. No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 1 Georgia, and No. 7 Texas are all 7-2, while No. 2 Auburn and No. 3 Texas A&M are tied atop the league standings at 8-1.
Florida is one of only two teams in all of Division I women's tennis with six singles players ranked in the top 125 in the country — Gabia Paskauskas (#39), India Houghton (#60), Nikola Daubnerova (#69), Valery Gynina (#78), Lucie Pawlak (#105), and Brooke Black (#123). On the doubles side of the ledger, the Gators top tandem of Daubnerova and Xinyi Nong are ranked 34th in the nation.
Alabama went 8-0 during non-conference play and won its first two conference matches of the season, but is 2-5 over its last seven matches. The Crimson Tide are led by number one singles player Kristina Paskauskas who is ranked No. 73 in the country in singles, and is the older sister of Florida's Gabia Paskauskas. Klara Milicevic (No. 90), and Karla Bartel (No. 98) are also ranked nationally in singles, and have played most recently at number two and four for Alabama.
Mississippi State is undefeated in non-conference play this season, and has won three of its last four matches including victories over Arkansas and Missouri. The Bulldogs have three ranked doubles teams at their disposal — Kempenaers-Pocz and Gianna Oboniye (No. 22), Athina Pitta and Oboniye (No. 52), and Kempenaers-Pocz and Chiara Di Genova (No. 55).
HISTORY
The Gators are 49-2 all-time against Alabama, and have won seven straight meetings in the series including a 4-3 victory on April 16 of last year. Florida is 44-1 against Mississippi State with five straight victories including a 4-0 win on March 14, 2025.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Florida hits the road for the final time in the regular season, traveling to the Long Star State for matches against No. 7 Texas on Thursday, April 2 at 3 p.m. EDT, and vs. No. 3 Texas A&M on Saturday, April 4 at 1 p.m.
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| WATCH (Alabama / Mississippi State) | LIVE STATS (Alabama / Mississippi State) |
The Gators went 1-1 last week falling to the number one team in the nation in Georgia, while beating No. 24 South Carolina. Those road results moved Florida up to number 15 in the nation this week.
With six conference games remaining on the ledger, the Gators are tied for sixth place in the SEC with No. 11 Vanderbilt. No. 8 Oklahoma, No. 1 Georgia, and No. 7 Texas are all 7-2, while No. 2 Auburn and No. 3 Texas A&M are tied atop the league standings at 8-1.
Florida is one of only two teams in all of Division I women's tennis with six singles players ranked in the top 125 in the country — Gabia Paskauskas (#39), India Houghton (#60), Nikola Daubnerova (#69), Valery Gynina (#78), Lucie Pawlak (#105), and Brooke Black (#123). On the doubles side of the ledger, the Gators top tandem of Daubnerova and Xinyi Nong are ranked 34th in the nation.
Alabama went 8-0 during non-conference play and won its first two conference matches of the season, but is 2-5 over its last seven matches. The Crimson Tide are led by number one singles player Kristina Paskauskas who is ranked No. 73 in the country in singles, and is the older sister of Florida's Gabia Paskauskas. Klara Milicevic (No. 90), and Karla Bartel (No. 98) are also ranked nationally in singles, and have played most recently at number two and four for Alabama.
Mississippi State is undefeated in non-conference play this season, and has won three of its last four matches including victories over Arkansas and Missouri. The Bulldogs have three ranked doubles teams at their disposal — Kempenaers-Pocz and Gianna Oboniye (No. 22), Athina Pitta and Oboniye (No. 52), and Kempenaers-Pocz and Chiara Di Genova (No. 55).
HISTORY
The Gators are 49-2 all-time against Alabama, and have won seven straight meetings in the series including a 4-3 victory on April 16 of last year. Florida is 44-1 against Mississippi State with five straight victories including a 4-0 win on March 14, 2025.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Florida hits the road for the final time in the regular season, traveling to the Long Star State for matches against No. 7 Texas on Thursday, April 2 at 3 p.m. EDT, and vs. No. 3 Texas A&M on Saturday, April 4 at 1 p.m.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: X | Facebook | Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
Players Mentioned
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