WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (UCFKnights.com) - The historic run for UCF women's tennis duo Maria Martinez and Ksenia Kuznetsova came to an end on Thursday afternoon at the NCAA Division I Women's Tennis Doubles Championship.
After earning the first a bid to the doubles tournament in program history as the automatic qualifier from the American Athletic Conference, the No. 61 Kuznetsova and Martinez battled No. 20 Nina Khmelnitckaia and Anastasia Rychagova of Kansas through all three sets.
"We wouldn't have had the season we had without Ksenia and Maria," said head coach Bryan Koniecko. "They played great doubles all year and were a lock for us. Today, they had some chances to advance, but everyone is good at this tournament, and you only have one, maybe two, opportunities to win the match. It's a great learning experience for us, and it will only motivate us to come back and do better."
The Jayhawks combo struck first with a 6-4 opening set victory, but Martinez and Kuznetsova responded by taking the second set by a score of 7-5. In a super tie-break, the duo from Kansas edged the Knights 10-4 to clinch the match.
The 2018 season was historic for Martinez and Kuznetsova. In their first year of playing together, the duo climbed all the way up to No. 47 in the ITA/ORACLE Division I doubles rankings. They entered the NCAA Doubles Championship on a nine-match winning streak.
Martinez and Kuznetsova finished the year with a 17-4 record, including a trio of wins over ranked opponents. Martinez was named to The American All-Conference Team.
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