CORAL GABLES, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF women's tennis team begins their NCAA Championship quest Friday at 11 a.m., as the Knights take on FIU in the opening round from the Neil Schiff Tennis Center on the campus of the University of Miami.
UCF (19-4, 5-1 The American) will face the Panthers (17-2, 6-0 C-USA) for the second time this season, with the first contest a 4-1 victory for the Knights on March 30.
"We can't even think about that last match," said Bryan Koniecko, UCF head coach. "At the end of the day, it's a different location, it's the NCAA Tournament and you kind of throw the past out the window and you better bring your 'A' game to beat them."
During that regular season affair, the Black and Gold were able to set the temp with two dominant doubles victories to set the tone heading into singles.
Ksenia Kuznetsova and Maria Martinez provided the clincher at No. 1 doubles. The duo, who will participate in the NCAA Doubles Championships later this month, cruised to a 6-1 win over Maryna Veksler and Ulyana Grib, who at the time were No. 14 in the Oracle/ITA doubles ranks. Kuznetsova and Martinez lead UCF with 15 doubles wins together this spring.
Silvia Bordes, Rebeka Stolmar, and Natalia Serrano all also earned singles wins versus FIU. Stolmar currently leads the Knights with a 19-2 singles record this spring.
FIU is led by senior Andrea Lazaro, who is currently ranked No. 10 in the Oracle/ITA national singles rankings. She leads the team with 26 overall victories this year, including 14 in dual matches playing at No. 1. Lazaro also earned First-Team All- Conference USA honors in both singles and doubles, along with sophomore teammate Grib.
Grib has 18 wins overall, including 12 in dual matches. Junior Maryna Veksler posted 16 overall wins and nine in dual matches.
This will be the first NCAA Championship appearance for the Knights since 2002. The winner of Friday's contest will face the victor of Miami and LIU Brooklyn, Saturday at 10 a.m. in second round action.
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