LOS ANGELES, Calif. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men's tennis team capped off the ITA Kickoff Weekend with a solid 4-1 win over UC Davis at the L.A. Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon.
The Knights (1-2), featuring four players in just their third collegiate contest, picked up their first victory of the season by winning doubles and No. 1, 2, and 5 singles.
"We did a good job of improving in a couple of areas from yesterday," Director of Tennis John Roddick said. "UC Davis competed well, and we did a nice job of closing out the singles."
To start the match, UCF needed all three doubles matches to take the lead. Korey Lovett and Eero Vasa gave the Knights an early advantage at No. 1 with a 6-4 victory over David Goulak and Tommy Lam. The Aggies leveled the score at No. 2 as Everett Maltby and Max Pham edged Mikhail Sokolovskiy and Gabriel Decamps 6-4.
The opening point came down to the Knights' No. 3 team of Danny Kerznerman and Alan Rubio against Jonathan Star and Chethan Swanson. After falling behind 5-3, the UCF duo rallied to win in a tiebreak, 7-5 (5).
For the second consecutive match, Decamps put the Knights ahead by two with a victory in straight sets. The rookie was in total control over Goulak by the score of 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2.
UC Davis bounced back at No. 4 as Jonathan Star topped Vasa 7-6 (3), 6-4, but the Knights quickly closed the door on any comeback opportunity for the Aggies.
Sokolovskiy stepped up at No. 5 to put the Knights within reach of clinching. The Russian international fought through an opening-set tiebreak, before cruising in the second set to win 7-5 (5), 6-3.
Lovett finished off the match at No. 1 moments later. The senior needed three sets to defeat Ivan Thamma, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
UP NEXT
The Knights will travel to Auburn next Sunday to finish their four-match road swing to start the year.
FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS
Follow UCF Men'sTennis on social media on Facebook (/UCF.MTennis), Twitter (UCF_WTennis) and Instagram (UCF.MTennis).