ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF men's tennis team continues to show they can compete with some of the top teams in the country, but came up just short against No. 32 Baylor Monday at the USTA National Campus.
In what turned out to be a back-and-forth emotional match, UCF (4-4, 0-0) marched out to a 3-1 lead, but couldn't halt Baylor's (11-3, 0-0) comeback, falling 4-3.
"We played a really good match," said UCF Director of Tennis John Roddick. "Our doubles was really good again, so that has been a bright spot for us. We're getting there, but just as a team we need to get a little better at getting to the finish line."
UCF continued strong play in doubles action, winning two of three matches to earn the first point of the night.
Korey Lovett and Eero Vasa took down Johannes Schretter and Will Little, who are currently No. 5 in the ORACLE/ITA Division I doubles rankings. The No. 23 pairing were dominant in setting the pace for the Black and Gold with a 6-3 win at No. 1.
After Baylor earned a win at No. 2, Gabriel Decamps and Danny Kerznerman flexed their muscle in completing a 7-5 win over Roy Smith and Sven Lah at No. 3 to clinch the doubles point.
Mikhail Sokolovskiy continued the scoring for the Knights entering singles play. The freshman cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 win at No. 4 for UCF's second point of the match.
After Will Little put Baylor on the board with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Kerznerman at No.5, the Black and Gold would extend their lead to 3-1 after Korey Lovett defeated No. 74 Bjoern Petersen 6-3, 7-5.
Baylor would cut the gap to one when No. 39 Schretter got past Alan Rubio 6-4, 6-4.
The two remaining matches each were each pushed to three sets. DeCamps battled to take a tiebreak first set, but dropped the final two sets, losing 6-7 (4-6), 6-4, 6-0 at No. 2.
In another grind it out match, Vasa came from behind to win a grueling first set tiebreak. The freshman from Finland hung tough throughout, but eventually Smith clinched the match for the Bears at No. 6 , 6-3, 6-7 (9-11), 6-3.
UP NEXT
The Knights will take on Penn State at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 7 at the USTA National Campus.
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UCF 3, Baylor 4
Singles competition
1. Korey Lovett (UCF-M) def. #74 Bjoern Petersen (BU) 6-3, 7-5
2. Matias Soto (BU) def. Gabriel DeCamps (UCF-M) 6-7 (4-6), 6-4, 6-0
3. #39 Johannes Schretter (BU) def. Alan Rubio (UCF-M) 6-4, 6-4
4. Mikhail Sokolovskiy (UCF-M) def. Sven Lah (BU) 6-4, 6-2
5. Will Little (BU) def. Danny Kerznerman (UCF-M) 6-2, 6-4
6. Roy Smith (BU) def. Eero Vasa (UCF-M) 6-3, 6-7 (9-11), 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #23 Korey Lovett/Eero Vasa (UCF-M) def. #5 Johannes Schretter/Will Little (BU) 6-3
2. Akos Kotorman/Constantin Frantzen (BU) def. Alan Rubio/Mikhail Sokolovskiy (UCF-M) 6-4
3. Gabriel DeCamps/Danny Kerznerman (UCF-M) def. Roy Smith/Sven Lah (BU) 7-5