Saturday, May 2
Ann Arbor, Mich.
10 a.m.
Florida Gators
vs
Toledo
Women's Tennis recevies a pre-match pep talk from Coach Nilsson
Gators head to Michigan to take on Toledo Saturday in NCAA first round match
Tuesday, April 28, 2026 | Women's Tennis
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The Florida Women's Tennis Team is back in the NCAA Tournament and headed to Michigan where the Gators will take on the Toledo Rockets in the first round. The match is slated for Saturday, May 2 at 10 a.m. EDT. The host Wolverines will square off against Illinois State in the site's other first round matchup at 1 p.m. Saturday, and the winners will play one another on Sunday, May 3 at 1 p.m.
This marks the 42nd time that Florida has made the NCAA Tournament out of a possible 44 appearances. Their lone absences came in 2025 and 1986, and the 2020 version was canceled due to COVID. The Gators have won seven national championships — 1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2011, 2012 and 2017, and are 121-34 overall in tournament play. They have also finished as NCAA runners-up on seven occasions.
Florida (16-7) and Toledo (13-8) are meeting for the first time, and should the Gators and Illinois State (18-6) both advance, it would be the first-ever match between those two programs as well. Florida is 6-3 all-time against Michigan (19-6), with two of those wins coming in NCAA Tournament competition. The last five matches featuring the Gators and Wolverines have taken place during the regular season, with their last NCAA Tourney tussle coming in 2012.
As of the most recent ITA rankings release on April 21, Florida is 14th in the nation, and Michigan is 18th, but new rankings are expected to post on Thursday, April 30.
The Gators have four singles players currently ranked in the top 125 — India Houghton (#46) at number one singles, Valery Gynina (#56) at two, Gabia Paskauskas (#59) at three, and Lucie Pawlak (#101) at five. Houghton was recently named to the All-SEC Second Team, and Pawlak was named to the SEC All-Freshman squad.
Florida's top doubles tandem of Nikola Daubnerova and Xinyi Nong are ranked 16th the nation, while Gynina and Brooke Black are up to number 41 following a pair of top-20 wins in the month of April.
Toledo won the MAC Championship last weekend as the number three seed with victories over second-seed Buffalo and four-seed Miami. That ran the Rockets' winning streak to five consecutive matches heading into their second-ever NCAA Tournament appearances (2024, 2026).
Sophomore JJ Scholten is a two-time All-MAC selection, who was named conference freshman of the year in 2025, and MAC Tournament MVP in 2026. She is 13-7 overall this year in dual matches, including a 9-7 mark at number one singles.
Freshman Isabella Barretto also earned First Team, All-MAC accolades this year after posting a 10-9 dual match record, including a 5-2 mark in conference, while teaming up with sophomore Neha Guru to go 11-5 as the Rockets' number one doubles tandem.
Toledo is 1-7 against ranked opponents in its 47-year-history, with its lone win coming in a 6-1 decision over then No. 70 Florida Gulf Coast on March 8, 2023.
Michigan won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles this year, and is hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time since 2010 and the fourth straight season.
A trio of Wolverines earned All-Big Ten First Team honors this year — junior Piper Charney, senior Lily Jones and junior Reese Miller. Charney is a two-time All-American who went 7-0 in conference play in 2026. She is currently ranked No. 13 in singles, and is 25-1 in Big Ten singles play over her three-year Ann Arbor career.
Jones is ranked No. 36 in singles and No. 30 in doubles alongside partner Jessica Bernales. Jones also earned All-America honors in the fall, while Miller is on an 11-match singles winning streak and ranked No. 90 in the country.
Illinois State has won four straight matches and six of seven heading into the NCAAs, including MVC Tournament victories over three-seed Murray State and five-seed Drake which earned the Redbirds their seventh conference championship.
Number one singles player Silvia Pomarolli is 20-9 in her senior campaign, and 14-8 at number one doubles partnering of late with MVC Freshman of the Year Vittoria Benedetti. Benedetti also earned First-Team All-Conference honors at No. 3 singles, while senior Nuria Sanz did likewise in the number five spot. Sanz and sophomore Nicole Iosio received an all-conference, first team nod at number two doubles as well.
First and second round matches are all at home sites with four teams at each location. Thirty conference champions received automatic spots into the tournament with the remaining 34 teams receiving at-large bids.
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This marks the 42nd time that Florida has made the NCAA Tournament out of a possible 44 appearances. Their lone absences came in 2025 and 1986, and the 2020 version was canceled due to COVID. The Gators have won seven national championships — 1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2011, 2012 and 2017, and are 121-34 overall in tournament play. They have also finished as NCAA runners-up on seven occasions.
Florida (16-7) and Toledo (13-8) are meeting for the first time, and should the Gators and Illinois State (18-6) both advance, it would be the first-ever match between those two programs as well. Florida is 6-3 all-time against Michigan (19-6), with two of those wins coming in NCAA Tournament competition. The last five matches featuring the Gators and Wolverines have taken place during the regular season, with their last NCAA Tourney tussle coming in 2012.
As of the most recent ITA rankings release on April 21, Florida is 14th in the nation, and Michigan is 18th, but new rankings are expected to post on Thursday, April 30.
The Gators have four singles players currently ranked in the top 125 — India Houghton (#46) at number one singles, Valery Gynina (#56) at two, Gabia Paskauskas (#59) at three, and Lucie Pawlak (#101) at five. Houghton was recently named to the All-SEC Second Team, and Pawlak was named to the SEC All-Freshman squad.
Florida's top doubles tandem of Nikola Daubnerova and Xinyi Nong are ranked 16th the nation, while Gynina and Brooke Black are up to number 41 following a pair of top-20 wins in the month of April.
Toledo won the MAC Championship last weekend as the number three seed with victories over second-seed Buffalo and four-seed Miami. That ran the Rockets' winning streak to five consecutive matches heading into their second-ever NCAA Tournament appearances (2024, 2026).
Sophomore JJ Scholten is a two-time All-MAC selection, who was named conference freshman of the year in 2025, and MAC Tournament MVP in 2026. She is 13-7 overall this year in dual matches, including a 9-7 mark at number one singles.
Freshman Isabella Barretto also earned First Team, All-MAC accolades this year after posting a 10-9 dual match record, including a 5-2 mark in conference, while teaming up with sophomore Neha Guru to go 11-5 as the Rockets' number one doubles tandem.
Toledo is 1-7 against ranked opponents in its 47-year-history, with its lone win coming in a 6-1 decision over then No. 70 Florida Gulf Coast on March 8, 2023.
Michigan won both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles this year, and is hosting the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the 12th time since 2010 and the fourth straight season.
A trio of Wolverines earned All-Big Ten First Team honors this year — junior Piper Charney, senior Lily Jones and junior Reese Miller. Charney is a two-time All-American who went 7-0 in conference play in 2026. She is currently ranked No. 13 in singles, and is 25-1 in Big Ten singles play over her three-year Ann Arbor career.
Jones is ranked No. 36 in singles and No. 30 in doubles alongside partner Jessica Bernales. Jones also earned All-America honors in the fall, while Miller is on an 11-match singles winning streak and ranked No. 90 in the country.
Illinois State has won four straight matches and six of seven heading into the NCAAs, including MVC Tournament victories over three-seed Murray State and five-seed Drake which earned the Redbirds their seventh conference championship.
Number one singles player Silvia Pomarolli is 20-9 in her senior campaign, and 14-8 at number one doubles partnering of late with MVC Freshman of the Year Vittoria Benedetti. Benedetti also earned First-Team All-Conference honors at No. 3 singles, while senior Nuria Sanz did likewise in the number five spot. Sanz and sophomore Nicole Iosio received an all-conference, first team nod at number two doubles as well.
First and second round matches are all at home sites with four teams at each location. Thirty conference champions received automatic spots into the tournament with the remaining 34 teams receiving at-large bids.
- First round: Friday, May 1 – Saturday, May 2
- Second round: Saturday, May 2 – Sunday, May 3
- Super regionals: Friday, May 8 – Saturday, May 9
- Quarterfinals: Friday, May 15
- Semifinals: Saturday, May 16 | Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, GA
- Championship: Sunday, May 17 | Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, GA
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