No. 6 Florida women’s tennis fell to No. 3 Auburn, 4-1 in the third round of the SEC tournament Friday in Norman, Oklahoma. Despite a dominant 4-0 win against Arkansas the day prior, Florida is now out of contention for the SEC Championship title.

Florida opened with momentum, taking back-to-back doubles wins to secure an early lead. Valery Gynina and Brooke Black grabbed a 6-3 win over Auburn’s No. 18 pair Angella Okutoyi and Merna Refaat. Xinyi Nong and Nikola Daubernova then clinched the point in a 6-4 victory against the No. 2 doubles team of DJ Bennet and Ava Esposito. Auburn’s Ashton Bowers and Ekaterina Khairutdinova took a 6-2 win over India Houghton and Lucie Pawlak.

The Gators stayed aggressive at the start of singles, taking first sets on multiple courts. Brooke Black took her opening set 6-1 on court four, Gabia Paskauskas followed with a 6-2 first-set win on court three, and Lucie Pawlak battled through a tiebreak on court five, ultimately dropping the set 6-7 (3-7). The match seemed to be in Florida’s control.

However, Auburn quickly shifted the outcome.

The Tigers evened the match at 1-1 when No. 23 Bennet defeated No. 44 Houghton in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3 on court one. They took another win on court two, where No. 28 Khairutdinova earned a 7-6 (7-0), 6-1 victory over No. 51 Gynina.

From there, Auburn’s depth proved decisive. Black dropped sets two and three to Refaat, giving the Tigers their third point, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. With the score at 3-1, the outcome came down to one final match.

Daubernova fell to No. 64 Esposito in a tight 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 finish on court six. No. 65 Paskauskas remained unfinished against No. 70 Okutoyi at 2-6, 6-2, 5-2, as did No. 103 Pawlak against No. 55 Bowers at 6-7 (3-7), 7-5, 1-0.

The loss ends Florida’s pursuit of an SEC Championship. With the conference tournament concluded, the Gators now turn their attention to the NCAA tournament, which begins May 1.