March 5, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF women's tennis team concludes a five-match homestand against No. 4 Duke (9-1) at 4 p.m. Friday. Admission to the matchup against Duke and all events at the UCF Tennis Complex is free. The Knights have a 5-3 record during the dual-match season and are 4-1 on their home courts.
On the current homestand, the Knights hold a 3-1 record with victories over Georgia Southern, Florida Gulf Coast and Eastern Michigan. In the only loss against NC State on March 3, UCF earned the doubles point to take an early 1-0 lead, but the Wolfpack battled back and toppled the Knights, 5-2.
Against the Wolfpack, senior Elvira Serrot (Madrid, Spain) and junior Jenny Frisell (Gothenberg, Sweden) took down the No. 33 doubles team in the nation, 8-4. Junior Katie Orletsky (Titusville, Fla.) was the only Knight who was able to defeat her opponent in singles play, 6-4, 6-1.
Duke has stepped up to the challenge in playing a difficult schedule with its only setback against No. 1 Northwestern, who the Blue Devils later defeated. The Blue Devils have taken down nine ranked opponents on the year including No. 1 Northwestern, No. 7 Baylor, No. 30 Texas A&M, No. 36 Virginia Commonwealth, No. 37 Ohio State, No. 44 Indiana, No. 56 Princeton, No. 57 Old Dominion and No. 75 Wisconsin. Five players on the Duke roster are ranked in the top 70 nationally, while the Blue Devils also have the No. 11 ranked doubles team.
The matchup between the Knights and Blue Devils will be the first on the tennis courts. UCF head coach Stephanie Nickitas was an assistant coach with Duke for two seasons before coming to the Knights prior to the 2007-08 season.
The Knights play their next home match on March 14 against Penn State, after traveling to New Orleans to face Southern and Tulane.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to www.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 www.UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.