Thursday, April 16
Norman, Okla.
10 a.m.
Florida Gators
vs
Arkansas (14 seed)
Head Coach Per Nilsson rallies the troops prior to the team's 2026 match against Missouri
Women’s Tennis readies for run at record 30th SEC Championship
Wednesday, April 15, 2026 | Women's Tennis
NORMAN, Okla. —With a pair of wins over the final week of the regular season, the Florida Gators secured the six seed in this week's 2026 SEC Women's Tennis Tournament (April 15-19) and earned a bye into Thursday's second round. The top four seeds get a double bye, and the nine through 16 seeds are squaring off Wednesday in four first round matches.
Following today's early match, the Gators now know they will take on 14-seed Arkansas in the second round Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT. The Razorbacks enter the weekend ranked 54th in the nation, and have won four of their last seven matches, including Wednesday's 4-3 nail-biter over 11-seed South Carolina. The Gators picked up a 4-0 road win over the Razorbacks on Feb. 26, and are 38-1 all-time against Arkansas. These teams last met in the SEC Championship in 2022 when four-seeded Florida topped the five-seed Razorbacks, 4-1 in the third round before the Gators fell to eventual champion Texas A&M in the semis.
Oklahoma is the host school for this week's championship, and fans and media alike may follow along on the event's Championship Central web page. Live stats are available via StatBroadcast and live video feeds may be found at web.playsight.com.
Florida is the most decorated Women's Tennis program in SEC history with 29 conference titles to its credit, but the last time the Gators hoisted championship hardware was 2016. Texas A&M and Georgia have combined to win the last six league titles.
The Gators have won eight of their last 11 matches entering the tournament, with all three of their defeats coming on the road at the hands of top-10 opponents. Their two victories over the weekend moved them up to No. 12 in the national rankings, which is the team's highest ranking since Jan. 31, 2024 when the Gators were eighth in the country.
The ITA released its final, individual regular season rankings Tuesday, and four Gators currently count themselves among the top 125 players in the nation. Number one singles player India Houghton jumped 33 spots to No. 44 in the country after a 2-0 weekend that saw her upend a pair of ranked foes in No. 6 Bridget Stammel (6-1, 6-4) and No. 76 Gian Octa (6-0, 6-0). At number two singles, Valery Gynina improved 16 positions to No. 51 thanks to a 7-5, 6-4 decision over No. 14 Celia-Belle Mohr. Gabia Paskauskas is now ranked 65th at number three singles, and Lucie Pawlak, coming off an SEC Freshman of the Week performance playing at number four, moved back into the national rankings at No. 103 thanks to a pair of wins over the weekend.
On the double side, Florida now has a pair of ranked tandems. The Gators' number one team of Nikola Daubnerova and Xinyi Nong remains in 19th, while the number two team of Brooke Black and Valery Gynina picked up their first-ever doubles ranking at No. 73 behind a 6-2 win over the tenth-ranked team in the country, Vanderbilt's Valeria Ray and Stammel.
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Following today's early match, the Gators now know they will take on 14-seed Arkansas in the second round Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT. The Razorbacks enter the weekend ranked 54th in the nation, and have won four of their last seven matches, including Wednesday's 4-3 nail-biter over 11-seed South Carolina. The Gators picked up a 4-0 road win over the Razorbacks on Feb. 26, and are 38-1 all-time against Arkansas. These teams last met in the SEC Championship in 2022 when four-seeded Florida topped the five-seed Razorbacks, 4-1 in the third round before the Gators fell to eventual champion Texas A&M in the semis.
Oklahoma is the host school for this week's championship, and fans and media alike may follow along on the event's Championship Central web page. Live stats are available via StatBroadcast and live video feeds may be found at web.playsight.com.
Florida is the most decorated Women's Tennis program in SEC history with 29 conference titles to its credit, but the last time the Gators hoisted championship hardware was 2016. Texas A&M and Georgia have combined to win the last six league titles.
The Gators have won eight of their last 11 matches entering the tournament, with all three of their defeats coming on the road at the hands of top-10 opponents. Their two victories over the weekend moved them up to No. 12 in the national rankings, which is the team's highest ranking since Jan. 31, 2024 when the Gators were eighth in the country.
The ITA released its final, individual regular season rankings Tuesday, and four Gators currently count themselves among the top 125 players in the nation. Number one singles player India Houghton jumped 33 spots to No. 44 in the country after a 2-0 weekend that saw her upend a pair of ranked foes in No. 6 Bridget Stammel (6-1, 6-4) and No. 76 Gian Octa (6-0, 6-0). At number two singles, Valery Gynina improved 16 positions to No. 51 thanks to a 7-5, 6-4 decision over No. 14 Celia-Belle Mohr. Gabia Paskauskas is now ranked 65th at number three singles, and Lucie Pawlak, coming off an SEC Freshman of the Week performance playing at number four, moved back into the national rankings at No. 103 thanks to a pair of wins over the weekend.
On the double side, Florida now has a pair of ranked tandems. The Gators' number one team of Nikola Daubnerova and Xinyi Nong remains in 19th, while the number two team of Brooke Black and Valery Gynina picked up their first-ever doubles ranking at No. 73 behind a 6-2 win over the tenth-ranked team in the country, Vanderbilt's Valeria Ray and Stammel.
FOLLOW THE GATORS
SOCIAL: X | Facebook | Instagram
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: #GoGators
Players Mentioned
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/ Women's Tennis
/ Women's Tennis
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