ORLANDO (UCFKnights.com)—The No. 46 UCF women's tennis team added its tenth victory to its record. The Knights defeated Liberty, 4-3, in a tightly-contested match on Saturday afternoon at the USTA National Campus.
"We had to play a well to beat Liberty today and our team responded," said head coach Bryan Koniecko. "Liberty has had a great season so far and we knew we had to come out firing to get a win. We competed really well and that's all we can do moving forward."
In doubles, sophomore Natalia Serrano and junior Emilia Granstrom continued their undefeated season with a 6-4 victory on the second court.
Senior Cortney Cesarini and junior Monica Matias trailed 3-0 to start the match on the top doubles court. Slowly, the pair started chipping away at the gap before tying it up at 5-5. Matias and Cesarini used the momentum to take the last two games and clinch the doubles point.
"I like how resilient we were the doubles point after a slow, first 10 minutes," Koniecko said.
With only three singles victories needed, the Knights started individual play. One hour after finishing doubles, Cesarini posted a 6-1, 6-1 victory on the fourth court to give the Knights a 2-0 lead. Serrano followed suit, earning her fourth-consecutive victory, 6-1, 6-3, on the top court.
After taking the first set 6-1, Matias and Anna Dollar held serve up until 4-4. At 4-4, Matias had enough of it and won the last two games to clinch the match for UCF.
The Knights have some time off before heading out on a road trip to Texas. UCF will take on American Athletic Conference opponent SMU on March 4 at 1 p.m. They follow that up with a match against UT-Arlington on March 5 at noon.
Results (Order of Finish)
Doubles (3,2,1)
1). Cortney Cesarini/ Monica Matias (UCF) d. Rebekah Anderson/ Aleksandra Panchenko (LU), 7-5
2). Emilia Granstrom/ Natalia Serrano (UCF) d. Anna Dollar/ Evangeline Crist (LU), 6-4
3). Mariely Hassey/ Emily Groneveld (LU) d. Elizabeth Bagerbaseh/ Nicole Jimenez, 6-3
Singles (4,6,1,2,3,5)
1). Natalia Serrano (UCF) d. Rebekah Anderson (LU) 6-1, 6-3
2). Monica Matias (UCF) d. Anna Dollar (LU), 6-1, 6-4
3). Evangeline Crist (LU) d. Emilia Granstrom (UCF), 6-1, 2-6, 11-9
4). Cortney Cesarini (UCF) d. Eugenia Camacho (LU), 6-1, 6-1
5). Mariely Hassey (LU) d. Elizabeth Bagerbaseh (UCF), 7-5, 6-3
6). Emily Groneveld (LU) d. Nicole Jimenez (UCF), 6-0, 6-1
