Nov. 16, 2012
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By Mike Garabedian and Brian Ormiston
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF women's tennis team's fall season is in the books, and the Knights took part in four events during, with competitive outings in each of the singles and doubles matches in which they participated.
UCF began the season on a high note, capturing 16 singles victories at the three-day Knights Invitational. The Black and Gold also grabbed eight doubles victories, including a clean sweep over Marquette on the final day of the tournament.
The freshman duo of Carolina Eberhart and Katie Spivak recorded their first collegiate wins with an 8-2 triumph over Gyanna Mandic and Zhoe Solaun of Florida Gulf Coast. Eberhart opened the season strong, with a 5-1 record to begin her college career. Josephine Haraldson posted a perfect 3-0 record in dual-match play and teamed up with Genevieve Lorbergs to capture the Flight A doubles title.
Despite being troubled by rain for the beginning of the C.L. Varner Memorial Invitational, UCF still managed to go 30-8 in singles and doubles play. The squad had its best day of the fall on the second day of the tournament, dominating the likes of Bethune-Cookman, Florida Southern, Lynn, Rollins and Saint Leo to finish with an 18-1 record. Ann-Sophie Porry defeated Ashley Loft of Rollins 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 to win the Flight D title. Haraldson and Eberhart were impressive once again, grabbing the Flight B and C titles.
Facing some of the nation's top talent, four Knights notched victories at the USTA/ITA Southeast Regionals in Tampa. Eberhart continued her hot streak, defeating Georgia State's Masa Grgan 6-4, 4-3 before falling to the No. 29 player in the nation. Junior Courtney Griffith battled Paula Montoya of USF in a come-from-behind 5-7, 7-6, 7-5 victory. Winter Park native Jenna Doerfler and Genevieve Lorbergs both edged their respective opponents after splitting their first sets.
The Knights closed out the fall with a total of four players advancing to the Sweet 16 of the Florida State Championships. In straight sets, Doerfler prevailed 6-3, 6-3 over North Florida's Melanie Aguirre. Lorbergs dominated FAMU's Elysia Ortiz for a 6-0, 6-1 win, while Haraldson took care of business with a 7-5, 6-2 victory. The dynamic duo of Claire Mendell and Doerfler reached the quarterfinals shutting out FAMU's Ortiz and Stephanie Miller 8-0 in the process. The pair of Lorbergs and Haraldson also reached the quarterfinals after topping Bethany Holt and Symone Townsend from Florida A&M.
Head coach Stephanie Nickitas took some time to share her thoughts on the fall with UCFAthletics.com:
You faced a lot of quality competition this fall. What were you impressed with and what does your team still have to work on before the spring?
"It's hard to generalize with the fall being all individual competitions but we played a lot of matches and had some good results."
How have all of the newcomers adjusted to UCF and playing at this level?
"They've all adjusted quite well. The first few weeks were a little difficult for them in reference to the strength & conditioning program. They were pretty sore for a while but once they got used to the schedule and volume of work they settled in and really started to show improvements. Each one of them has a unique style and they will bring a lot of depth and versatility to our lineup."
What have you seen from your senior and junior class so far?
"They have all been performing very well and all of them had some great results in the fall. Moving forward, they need to continue to bring their experience level to the table. This team can be very successful in the spring with the leadership of our seniors Genevieve and Jenna. I'm excited to see what they can do."
With the fall completed, what is next for your players and how do they continue to train before you get back together as a team in January?
"Even though we are not competing until January, the players are still training hard on and off the court. Now is the time to put a little more emphasis on strength & conditioning again in order to build a solid base for the spring. Keeping up with practice match play is extremely important as well since it's more than two months in between competitions."
With the conclusion of the fall, UCF will now focus its attention on the spring season. The team will begin the year at home, hosting the UCF Invitational Jan. 19-21.