CORAL GABLE, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - For the first time in program history, the UCF women's tennis team advances in the NCAA Championship. The Knights took down FIU 4-3 Friday at the Neil Schiff Tennis Center at the University of Miami and will now play Miami Saturday at 11 a.m. in second round action.
"We knew it was going to be a different situation than playing them [FIU] at home," said Bryan Koniecko, UCF head coach. "It was obviously tighter than the last time we played them, but we did what we needed to do."
It came down to Monica Matias on court No. 4 with the match tied 3-3. The senior has been through it all in her time in Black and Gold (20-4, 5-1 AAC) and pushed through for a three-set thriller to keep the Knights season alive.
After Matias battled in a tiebreaker in the first set, the Panthers' (17-3, 6-0) Maryna Veksler made it interesting for the Knights by taking the second. The third set provided plenty of drama, with multiple grueling rallies by both sides. Matias persevered and ultimately clinched, 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 6-4
"I wasn't feeling my best, but I just looked to the side and saw all my teammates and I knew I had to just do it for them," said Matias. "I just left it all out there today. To be honest, when I was playing that match, I knew I couldn't lose my last match as a clinch. I knew I would remember it and I just couldn't let that happen."
The match began with a strong doubles performance to set the tempo for UCF. The Oracle/ITA No. 61 doubles duo of Ksenia Kuznetsova and Maria Martinez flexed their muscle once again in taking down the No. 24 pair of Ulyana Grib and Veksler 6-3.
Matias and Natalia Serrano provided the clincher at No. 3 with a 6-4 win over Sandra Bozinovic and Mina Markovic.
FIU opened singles action with a win at No. 6. Markovic took down Silvia Bordes, 6-1, 6-2. The Knights rebounded with two straight wins to take back the momentum.
Rebeka Stolmar took down Bozinovic in straight sets, 6-1, 7-5 at No. 3 and Serrano followed suit at No. 5, winning 6-3, 7-5 over Nerma Caluk to make it 3-1 UCF.
The Panthers bounced back with wins at No. 1 and No. 2 to even the score up 3-3. The No. 13th nationally ranked singles player Andrea Lazaro took down Martinez 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 and Grib beat Kuznetsova 7-6 (10-8), 6-3 to leave it all up to Matias to seal it at No. 4.
The Knights will now shift their focus to a Hurricane (17-7, 11-3 ACC) team that took down LIU Brooklyn 4-0 in their opening round match. The 'Canes are playing in their 23rd straight NCAA Tournament, tied for the 10th-longest streak in the country.
Miami features two nationally-ranked singles players in sophomore Estela Perez-Somarriba (No. 3) and senior Sinead Lohan (No.69). Perez-Somarriba was also named ACC Player of the Year this season.
The winner of Saturday's second round match will advance to play in the Sweet 16 beginning May 17 from the campus of Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C.
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