Sept. 23, 2006
WINTER PARK, Fla. - For the second consecutive day, the UCF women's tennis team was represented very well at the Rollins College C.L. Varner Memorial Invitational Saturday. Senior Becky Gordon (Tampa, Fla./Chamberlain) and freshman Zoe Kent (Valrico, Fla.) won both matches in the Flight B singles draw, and the two are set to meet in the finals Sunday.
Gordon fell behind in her first match of the day, dropping the first set to Anna Schmidtmann of Nova Southeastern, 7-5. But Gordon picked it up in the second and won the final two sets, 6-3, 6-2. Kent lost only four games in her quarterfinal match, defeating Natalia Sanchez of North Florida, 6-3, 6-1. Meanwhile, junior Jennifer Carati (Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) moved into the semifinals with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Stetson's Samantha Lange.
Carati and Gordon were then forced to play each other for the right to move on to the finals, and it proved to be a highly contested clash. After Gordon won the first set, 6-4, neither student-athlete would let up in a second-set tiebreaker. Eventually, Gordon moved on with a 13-11 win in the tiebreak. On the top half of the draw, Kent had no troubles with Stetson's Natalie Gorham, advancing with a 6-3, 6-1 triumph.
In the Flight A singles main draw, junior Anna Yakimchenkova (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla./American School) was the lone Golden Knight remaining. She managed to take the first set, 6-3, against Florida Southern's Senka Softic, but dropped the next two, 6-4, 7-5. In the Flight A backdraw, sophomore Kenza Belbacha (Casablanca, Morocco) fell to North Florida's Florencia Torres, 3-6, 6-0, 1-0(10-2).
Doubles action saw two UCF duos remain in the hunt for a title. In the Flight A draw, Yakimchenkova and sophomore Elvira Serrot (Madrid, Spain) cruised by Barry University's Berit Peterson and Ildiko Csordas, 8-3, to reach the semifinals. In Flight B, Carati and senior Megan Hunter (Poquoson, Va./Poquoson) breezed past Florida Southern's Erin Conroy and Lindsey Willis, 8-1, to also advance to the semis.
Final matches of the C.L. Varner Memorial Invitational take place Sunday in Winter Park. For the latest news and information on the Golden Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF athletics.
UCF ResultsSingles Flight A Main Draw - QuarterfinalsSenka Softic (FSC) def. Anna Yakimchenkova (UCF) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
Singles Flight B Main Draw - QuarterfinalsZoe Kent (UCF) def. Natalia Sanchez (UNF) 6-3, 6-1Becky Gordon (UCF) def. Anna Schmidtmann (NSU) 5-7, 6-3, 6-2Jennifer Carati (UCF) def. Samantha Lange (Stetson) 6-4, 6-2
Singles Flight B Main Draw - SemifinalsZoe Kent (UCF) def. Natalie Gorham (Stetson) 6-2, 6-1Becky Gordon (UCF) def. Jennifer Carati (UCF) 6-4, 7-6(11)
Singles Flight A Backdraw - QuarterfinalsFlorencia Torres (UNF) def. Kenza Belbacha (UCF) 3-6, 6-0, 1-0(10-2)
Doubles Flight A Main Draw - QuarterfinalsSerrot/Yakimchenkova (UCF) def. Csordas/Peterson (Barry) 8-3
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