ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com)—Emilia Granstrom led the UCF women's tennis team to its fourth consecutive victory Sunday afternoon at the USTA National Campus. The Knights, who improved 6-1 on the season, handed Georgia Southern (4-1 overall) its first loss of the year, stopping the Eagles 5-2.
Granstrom and her doubles partner Natalia Serrano trailed 3-2 to Georgia Southern's Giulia Riepe and Arianne de Winter. But the Knight duo broke serve and tied things up at 4-4. They rode that momentum to a 6-4 win. With the victory, Granstrom and Serrano extended their unbeaten start to the season to six matches. Granstrom, a native of Gothenburg, Sweden, has an unbeaten streak of 13 straight doubles matches, dating back to March 16, 2016.
"It was a tight doubles point at the end, and it was nice to see Emilia and Natalia come through at 4-4," UCF head coach Bryan Koniecko said.
Cortney Cesarini and Monica Matias made quick work of Mariana Ranzahuer and Lindsay Truscott with a 6-0 victory on the top court to open doubles play
In singles play, Cesarini and Matias finished within minutes of each other to put the Knights up 3-0. Cesarini defeated Ranzahuer 6-0, 6-1, on the fourth court. On the second court, Matias earned a 6-1, 6-1 win over Truscott.
For the third time this season, Granstrom secured the victory for the Knights. The junior won the first set, 6-1, over de Winter. De Winter fought back and forced a second set tiebreaker. Granstrom regained her momentum and won the tiebreaker 7-4.
"It was a great win for our team today," Koniecko said. "Georgia Southern was a good team. We knew it coming into the match."
The Knights finished out of the match with a victory on Elizabeth Bagerbaseh's court. The junior took the first set, 6-3. Georgia Southern's Emilia Bujan fought back and won the second set, 6-3, which forced a third. Bagerbaseh, the London, England native, regained control of the match and won the third set, 6-4.
The Black and Gold have 10 days off before heading to Jacksonville, Fla., to take on the University of North Florida on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 5 p.m.
Results (Order of Finish)
Doubles (1,3,2)
1). Cesarini/Matias (UCF) d. Ranzahuer/Truscott, 6-0
2). Granstrom/Serrano (UCF) d. Riepe/De Winter, 6-4
3). Bujan/Monsey d. Bagerbaseh/Jimenez (UCF), 6-0
Singles (4,2,6,3,1,5)
1). Guilia Riepe d. Natalia Serrano (UCF), 6-3, 6-3
2). Monica Matias (UCF) d. Lindsay Truscott, 6-1, 6-1
3). Emilia Granstrom (UCF) d. Arianne de Winter, 6-1, 7-6 (4)
4). Cortney Cesarini (UCF) d. Mariana Ranzahuer, 6-0, 6-1
5). Elizabeth Bagerbaseh (UCF) d. Emilia Bujan, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
6). Ella Monsey d. Nicole Jimenez (UCF), 6-2, 6-1
