ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF women's tennis team wrapped up a perfect opening weekend on Sunday afternoon with a convincing 4-1 victory over North Texas at the USTA National Campus.
Two days after knocking off No. 15 South Carolina, the Knights (2-0) carried over the momentum and trailed the Mean Green (1-1) in just two matches all afternoon.
"One of the hardest things to do is come back from an emotional win to play an important match," head coach Bryan Koniecko said. "Friday night was a war for us. We knew North Texas was going to play hard. They do a great job of bringing energy all the time. They had a great win against USF the other night. They gave us their best shot, and we responded well."
The Knights remained perfect in doubles action to start the match. Monica Matias and Natalia Serrano cruised through their contest with Ivana Babic and Alexandra Heczey, 6-2. No. 3 doubles partners Silvia Bordes and Rebeka Stolmar edged Nidhi Surapaneni and Minying Liang 6-4 to put the hosts ahead.
While the No. 1 doubles match went unfinished, Ksenia Kuznetsova and Maria Martinez were within two points of knocking off No. 36 Maria Kononova and Tamuna Kutubidze with a 5-4 lead.
The Knights' dominance continued into singles play. Stolmar dispatched Liang, 6-0, 6-3, with ease to put the Black and Gold up by two. Bordes followed suit with a straight-sets victory over Heczey at No. 6, 6-3, 7-5, which took the Knights within one point of the win.
Two newcomers put the Knights within reach, but the veteran Monica Matias stepped up to clinch the match. The native of Puerto Rico bounced back from a first-set loss with 12 wins out of the next 15 games to finish 3-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Maria Martinez gave No. 42 ranked Maria Kononova all she could handle in two sets, but the North Texas No. 1 snuck away with a 6-4, 6-4 win. At the conclusion of play, Kuznetsova was in the third set against Kutubidze, 1-6, 6-4, 1-2, and Serrano just started in the third against Haruka Sasaki, 3-6, 6-3, 1-1.
UCF 4, North Texas 1
Singles competition
1. #42 Maria Kononova (NT) def. Maria Martinez (UCF-W) 6-4, 6-4
2. Ksenia Kuznetsova (UCF-W) vs. Tamuna Kutubidze (NT) 6-4, 1-6, 1-2, unfinished
3. Rebeka Stolmar (UCF-W) def. Minying Liang (NT) 6-0, 6-3
4. Monica Matias (UCF-W) def. Nidhi Surapaneni (NT) 3-6, 6-2, 6-1
5. Natalia Serrano (UCF-W) vs. Haruka Sasaki (NT) 3-6, 6-3, 1-1, unfinished
6. Silvia Bordes (UCF-W) def. Ivana Babic (NT) 6-3, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. Ksenia Kuznetsova/Maria Martinez (UCF-W) vs. #36 Tamuna Kutubidze/Maria Kononova (NT) 5-4, unfinished
2. Natalia Serrano/Monica Matias (UCF-W) def. Alexandra Heczey/Ivana Babic (NT) 6-2
3. Rebeka Stolmar/Silvia Bordes (UCF-W) def. Nidhi Surapaneni/Minying Liang (NT) 6-4
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