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Yakimchenkova, Hunter Lead UCF Women's Tennis at ITA Regional

Oct. 17, 2005

ATHENS, Ga. - The UCF women's tennis team played well against top competition at the 2005 ITA Southern Regional Championships this past weekend at Georgia's Dan McGill Tennis Complex.

After earning the Flight "B" co-championship at Rollins a week prior, sophomore Anna Yakimchenkova advanced to the finals of the "B" singles draw. She opened the tournament with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Shaunda Gaiter of Bethune-Cookman before staging a comeback to beat Georgia State's Rachel Malina, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0. In round three, Yakimchenkova triumphed over Daniela Juskova of Mississippi State then earned a 6-2, 6-0 victory over Seden Soyalp of UAB.

Winning her semi-final round by forfeit, she advanced to the championship where her successful run came to an end in a loss to Troy's Claudia Strauss, 6-1, 6-3.

Junior Megan Hunter lost her first round match to Florida State's Alina Mihailescu, 6-3, 6-2, but bounced back to win the "B" draw consolation.

Hunter and Yakimchenkova teamed up in the "B" doubles draw and continued their streak into the finals, where they defeated UAB's Soyalp and Antonia Nugent, 9-7, for the title.

In the "A" draw, freshman Elvi Serrot earned a three-set win over Georgia Tech's Kacie Anson in round one before falling to Diana Srebrovic of Florida. She later paired with classmate Kenza Jawhari in the "B" doubles and the tandem advanced to the third round, where they lost to Nugent and Soyalp, 8-4.

"This was a good high profile tournament for us to compete in and we came away with some impressive results," said UCF head coach Patricia Allison. "The girls really put up a great effort and played well."

The tournament capped off the fall season for the Golden Knights. The team begins its spring campaign with a scrimmage at Flagler on Jan. 18 before hosting Georgia Southern in its regular season debut on Jan. 21.