ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF women's tennis team fell 4-3 to the South Alabama Jaguars on Friday afternoon at the USTA National Campus.
"I give South Alabama credit today," said head coach Bryan Koniecko. "They played well at the top of the lineup. We fought our way back after being down five first sets but it was a little late. We just need to keep going to work every day and finding a way to get better."
In doubles, UCF's top pair Cortney Cesarini and Monica Matias defeated USA's Alina Zolotareva and Alexandria Stiteler, 6-4, but it was not enough to clinch the doubles point for the Knights.
Cesarini put the Knights on the board. The senior dropped her first set against Patricia Martins, 6-3, but fought back and won the next two sets, 6-2, 6-2.
Elizabeth Bagerbaseh added another victory on for the Black and Gold. The London, England native fell 6-1 in her opening set, but battled back to take the second 7-5. The junior used the momentum to post a 6-1 third-set victory.
Emilia Granstrom added the last point for the Knights. She took the first set, 7-5, but fell 7-5 in the second. With the match already clinched, a 10-point tiebreaker decided the final set. The Gothenburg, Sweden native sealed the match with a 10-8 tiebreaker victory on court three.
The Knights hit the road for a two-match road trip to New Orleans. UCF takes on Tulane on Monday, March 13 at noon, followed by Rhode Island on Tuesday, March 14 at noon.
Results (Order of Finish):
Doubles (2,1,3):
1). Cortney Cesarini/ Monica Matias (UCF) d. Alina Zolotareva/ Alexandria Stiteler, 6-4
2). Laura Valkova/ Patricia Martins (USA) d. Emilia Granstrom/ Natalia Serrano, 6-3
3). Laura Matuskova/ Leslie Bustamante (USA) d. Elizabeth Bagerbaseh/ Nicole Jimenez, 6-4
Singles (1,2,6,4,5,3)
1). Alexandria Stiteler (USA) d. Natalia Serrano (UCF), 6-1, 6-1
2). Laura Valkova (USA) d. Monica Matias (UCF), 6-3, 6-4
3). Emilia Granstrom (UCF) d. Laura Matuskova (USA), 6-5, 5-7, 10-8
4). Cortney Cesarini (UCF) d. Patricia Martins (USA), 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
5). Elizabeth Bagerbaseh (UCF) d. Alina Zolotareva (USA), 1-6, 7-5, 6-1
6). Leslie Bustamante (USA) d. Nicole Jimenez (UCF), 7-5, 6-3
