DALLAS, TX. (UCFKnights.com) – The No. 3 seed UCF men's tennis team rallied from a 3-1 deficit Friday to move on to the semifinals at the American Athletic Conference Tournament. The Knights (11-9, 1-2) took down Tulsa 4-3 at the Crum Tennis Courts to keep their postseason going.
UCF will now face No. 2 seed Tulane Saturday at 1 p.m. for a chance to play for the Conference Championship.
Doubles play has been a consistent positive for the Knights this year and the Black and Gold opened up the day with two victories to clinch the opening point.
Danny Kerznerman and Gabriel Decamps zoomed to a 6-0 win at No. 3 to get the ball rolling. Oracle/ITA No. 3 nationally ranked duo Korey Lovett and Eero Vasa sealed the point with a 6-3 win at No. 1.
Tulsa would open singles play with three straight wins. Boriss Kandem took down Kerznerman 6-3, 6-3 at No. 6, Majed Kilani got past Lovett 7-5, 6-2 at No.1 and Jarod Hing earned a three-set win over Mikhail Sokolovskiy, 1-6, 6-1, 6-2.
Then the comeback began.
Freshman Eero Vasa was dominant playing at No. 5. Vasa cruised in straight sets, 6-2 6-4 over Mitchell Pritchard to cut the lead to 3-2.
Fellow freshman Gabriel Decamps knotted up the score at 3-3 with his win at No. 2. The Brazilian native battled back after dropping his opening set to win a three set thriller, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 over Joshua Goodger.
The clincher came at No. 3, with Alan Rubio also persevering in three sets. Rubio took the first set, but had to grind it out after dropping a tie-break second set. Rubio rebounded and rolled in the third set to finish the match, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2.
The Knights will now shift their attention to No. 29 Tulane, who took down ECU 4-1 in its quarterfinal match.
The Green Wave (16-10, 3-1) finished the regular season winning their final four matches, including a win at No. 15 Texas and conference wins over SMU and USF.
Tulane is led by Constantin Schmitz, who currently ranks No. 14 nationally in singles. Ewan Moore also sits at No. 105. Schmitz and Moore also rank No. 52 in doubles.
FINAL: UCF- 4 Tulsa- 3
DOUBLES Order of finish: 3, 1 | |||||||||
| DOUBLES #1 | |||||||||
| Korey Lovett / Eero Vasa (UCF) | 6 | ||||||||
| Joshua Goodger / Jarod Hing (Tulsa) | 3 | ||||||||
| DOUBLES #2 | |||||||||
| Alan Rubio / Enrique Paya (UCF) | DNF | ||||||||
| Lucca Baptista / Majed Kilani (Tulsa) | DNF | ||||||||
| DOUBLES #3 | |||||||||
| Danny Kerznerman / Gabriel Decamps (UCF) | 6 | ||||||||
| Louis Corker / Mitchell Pritchard (Tulsa) | 0 | ||||||||
SINGLES Order of finish: 6, 1, 4, 5, 2, 3 | |||||||||
| SINGLES #1 | |||||||||
| Korey Lovett (UCF) | 5 | 2 | - | ||||||
| Majed Kilani (Tulsa) | 7 | 6 | - | ||||||
| SINGLES #2 | |||||||||
| Gabriel Decamps (UCF) | 3 | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| Joshua Goodger (Tulsa) | 6 | 3 | 4 | ||||||
| SINGLES #3 | |||||||||
| Alan Rubio (UCF) | 6 | 6 (4) | 6 | ||||||
| Lucca Baptista (Tulsa) | 3 | 7 | 2 | ||||||
| SINGLES #4 | |||||||||
| Mikhail Sokolovskiy (UCF) | 6 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Jarod Hing (Tulsa) | 1 | 6 | 6 | ||||||
| SINGLES #5 | |||||||||
| Eero Vasa (UCF) | 6 | 6 | - | ||||||
| Mitchell Pritchard (Tulsa) | 2 | 4 | - | ||||||
| SINGLES #6 | |||||||||
| Danny Kerznerman (UCF) | 3 | 3 | - | ||||||
| Boriss Kandem (Tulsa) | 6 | 6 | - | ||||||
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