WINSON-SALEM, N.C. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF men's tennis season came to a close Friday from the Wake Forest Tennis Complex, as Korey Lovett and Eero Vasa fell in the second round of the NCAA Doubles Championships.
Martin Redlick and Evan Zhu of UCLA, who currently check in at No. 29 in the Oracle/ITA rankings, took down the Knight duo 7-5, 6-3 to advance to Saturday's semifinal round.
After a slow start to the opening set, Lovett and Vasa battled to make the Bruin duo earn every point. The Knights were down 4-2 in the first, but were able to make it 5-5. UCLA would break serve though to go up once again and ultimately served to take the opening set 7-5.
The Black and Gold got off to a great start in the second set by breaking UCLA's serve right away to take a 1-0 lead. The Bruins would answer right back with a break of their own to even the score. The teams would go back-and-forth over the next five games, with each team serving for wins.
The break came by the Bruins, when they were able to halt the Knights' momentum to go up 5-3 in the set. UCLA would then hold serve for the match, wining 6-3.
This was the first time in UCF men's tennis program history that the Knights sent a doubles pair to the NCAA Championships, and came away with the program's first NCAA Championship victory Thursday versus Virginia Tech.
The tandem, who are currently ranked eighth nationally by the Oracle/ITA, entered the tournament on a four-match win streak and will finish the year 16-3 playing every match together at the No. 1 position.
Lovett and Vasa excelled throughout the regular season - reaching a school record of No. 3 in the Oracle/ITA rankings on April 17.
They went a perfect 6-0 versus ranked opponents during the regular season. They began the year by knocking off the No. 1 ranked duo in the country in Alfredo Perez and Johannes Ingildsen of Florida. The pair also earned a top-10 victory versus the No. 5 duo Johannes Schretter and Will Little of Baylor.
Lovett will forever be in the UCF history books, as he was also the first Knight to qualify for the Singles Championships during his junior year. He will now embark on a professional tennis career.
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