March 2, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - In UCF's tightest contest of the season, the women's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 75 NC State Monday at the UCF Tennis Complex. The match lasted over four hours and included a huge upset by the Knights (5-3 overall) in doubles play.
"It was really good to have a battle but unfortunately we didn't come out with the victory," said head coach Stephanie Nickitas. "I think it's going to help us in the future to have a tight match like that. We're going to learn from it, I mean at the end we had three freshmen left out on the court trying to pull through. This will only make them stronger."
The Wolfpack were poised to take the doubles point after claiming a victory at the No. 2 position to open up the day. However, the Knights had other plans. Taking on the No. 33-ranked doubles team in the country in Berkeley Brock and Lenka Hojckova, senior Elvira Serrot and sophomore Jenny Frisell collected an 8-4 win at No. 1 to even things up. The Black and Gold then secured the 1-0 team lead when freshmen Alexis Rodriguez and Andrea Yacaman toppled Daria Petrovic and Pender Sessoms at No. 3, 8-4.
When singles action got underway, the Knights stormed out to grab the first set in five of the six matches. Over at the No. 6 spot, junior Katie Orletsky finished off Sessoms with a 6-4, 6-1 win, enabling UCF to take a 2-0 advantage. NC State then cut its deficit in half when Hojckova defeated Serrot at the top position, 6-3, 6-1.
Although UCF held leads in the remaining four matches, the Wolfpack rebounded to post three-set victories at No. 2, 3, 4 and 5 singles for the overall win.
UCF's five-match homestand comes to a close against a top-10 program Friday afternoon. The Knights are slated to take on No. 6 Duke, where Nickitas served as an assistant coach from 2005-07, at 4 p.m. at the UCF Tennis Complex. Admission to all home matches is free.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
Tennis Match ResultsNorth Carolina State vs UCF3/2/2009 at Orlando, Fla.#75 North Carolina State 5, UCF 2
Singles competition1. #123 Lenka Hojckova (NCSTATE) def. Elvira Serrot (UCF) 6-3, 6-12. Berkeley Brock (NCSTATE) def. Jenny Frisell (UCF) 3-6, 6-3, 6-03. Daria Petrovic (NCSTATE) def. Andrea Yacaman (UCF) 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-24. Neils Barringer (NCSTATE) def. Alexis Rodriguez (UCF) 4-6, 6-4, 6-35. Diana Mortlock (NCSTATE) def. Christy Core (UCF) 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-36. Katie Orletsky (UCF) def. Pender Sessoms (NCSTATE) 6-4, 6-1
Doubles competition1. Jenny Frisell/Elvira Serrot (UCF) def. #33 Berkeley Brock/Lenka Hojckova (NCSTATE) 8-42. Diana Mortlock/Neils Barringer (NCSTATE) def. Christy Core/Katie Orletsky (UCF) 8-43. Alexis Rodriguez/Andrea Yacaman (UCF) def. Pender Sessoms/Daria Petrovic (NCSTATE) 8-4
Match Notes:North Carolina State 2-7; National ranking #75UCF 5-3Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,1,2,4,5,3) ="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>="https://ucfknights.com/http:%3E%3C/ahref="http:>