ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF women's tennis team played its first doubleheader of the season on Sunday and played a pair of flawless matches. The Knights (4-1) swept both matches at the USTA National Campus without surrendering a point on the way to a 7-0 victory over Troy and a 4-0 win over UNF.
"The goal today was to get two wins and we did it," head coach Bryan Koniecko said. "When you have a young team, there's no easy matches. It's a new experience all the time, so we just have to stay hungry and motivated and hopefully we can keep things rolling."
MATCH 1: UCF 7, Troy 0
The Knights did not miss a beat in the doubleheader opener. Due to multiple injuries, the Trojans (0-2) fielded just two doubles teams and four singles players, and the Knights quickly took advantage.
Doubles play has been a major strength for UCF to begin the season and the trend continued against the Trojans. With the advantage of a free doubles point at No. 3, Maria Martinez and Ksenia Kuznetsova cruised to a 6-0 victory over Sanae Ohta and Matea Mihaljevic to open the scoring for the Knights.
The freshman pairing of Rebeka Stolmar and Silvia Bordes moved to 3-1 on the year after defeating Jiayuan Xue and Pei Ju Hsieh 7-6(2) to remain undefeated in doubles play on the year.
The Knights continued to roll in singles play with a quartet of straight set wins. Kuznetsova wasted little time clinching the match for UCF with a quick 6-2, 6-0 win over Sanae Ohta at No. 1.
Playing at No.2, Martinez defeated Jiayuan Xue 6-0, 6-0. Bordes earned her second point of the day, taking down Matea Mihaljevic 6-0, 6-1 at No. 3. Emilia Granstrom made her 2018 debut for the Knights and cruised to 6-1, 6-3 victory over Pei Ju Hsieh.
UCF 7, Troy 0
Singles competition
1. Ksenia Kuznetsova (UCF-W) def. Ohta,Sanae (TROY) 6-2, 6-0
2. Maria Martinez (UCF-W) def. Xue,Jiayuan (TROY) 6-0, 6-0
3. Silvia Bordes (UCF-W) def. Mihaljevic,Matea (TROY) 6-0, 6-1
4. Emilia Granstrom (UCF-W) def. Hsieh,Pei Ju (TROY) 6-1, 6-3
5. No player (UCF-W) def. No player (TROY), by forfeit
6. No player (UCF-W) def. No player (TROY), by forfeit
Doubles competition
1. Maria Martinez/Ksenia Kuznetsova (UCF-W) def. Ohta,Sanae/Mihaljevic,Matea (TROY) 6-0
2. Rebeka Stolmar/Silvia Bordes (UCF-W) def. Xue,Jiayuan/Hsieh,Pei Ju (TROY) 7-6 (7-2)
3. No player/No player (UCF-W) def. No player/No player (TROY), by forfeit
MATCH 2: UCF 4, UNF 0
The Knights carried over the momentum in the nightcap, despite stormy weather moving play indoors. UCF jumped out to a quick lead in doubles before finishing off the Ospreys (4-1) with wins at No. 2, 3 and 4 singles.
In doubles play, Kuznetsova and Martinez earned the first victory of the match, defeating Eva Nyikos and Valentina Mariotta 6-2 in line No.1. Bordes and Stolmar, who remain undefeated in doubles play this season, clinched the doubles point by cruising to a 6-0 win.
The Black and Gold stayed in the groove in singles action. At No. 4, Monica Matias, refreshed from the morning off, took down Lucia Montano 6-1, 6-2 to extend the Knights' lead.
Kuznetsova followed suit with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Valentina Mariotto at No.2. Stolmar clinched the match for the Knights with a straight sets victory over Nyikos, 6-4, 6-1.
At the conclusion of play, Martinez held a 6-4, 2-3 advantage over Rafaela Gomez, while Natalia Serrano and Granstom were climbing back from first-set defeats.
UCF will head out on the road for the first time this season. The Black and Gold will kick off a four-match road swing at SMU and Baylor next weekend.
UCF 4, North Florida 0
Singles competition
1. Maria Martinez (UCF-W) vs. Rafaela Gomez (UNF) 6-4, 2-3, unfinished
2. Ksenia Kuznetsova (UCF-W) def. Valentina Mariotto (UNF) 6-1, 6-2
3. Rebeka Stolmar (UCF-W) def. Eva Nyikos (UNF) 6-4, 6-1
4. Monica Matias (UCF-W) def. Lucia Montaño (UNF) 6-1, 6-2
5. Natalia Serrano (UCF-W) vs. Luise Intert (UNF) 4-6, 4-1, unfinished
6. Emilia Granstrom (UCF-W) vs. Irina Karangozishvil (UNF) 1-6, 4-1, unfinished
Doubles competition
1. Monica Matias/Natalia Serrano (UCF-W) vs. Luise Intert/Rafaela Gomez (UNF) 2-5, unfinished
2. Ksenia Kuznetsova/Maria Martinez (UCF-W) def. Eva Nyikos/Valentina Mariotto (UNF) 6-2
3. Silvia Bordes/Rebeka Stolmar (UCF-W) def. Lucia Montaño/Florencia Rossi (UNF) 6-0
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