ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The No. 20 UCF women’s tennis team opened the 2019 season on Friday with a pair of victories over Georgia Southern Eagles and Stetson Hatters at the USTA National Campus. The Knights downed the Eagles 6-1 in the morning at the UCF Collegiate Tennis Center, before shifting indoors to sweep the Hatters 7-0 in the nightcap.
“It was great to get two wins, that’s exactly what we needed,” said head coach Bryan Koniecko, “I thought the first set of matches we looked a little nervous but that’s normal. I thought the second match today we played much cleaner. It was great to get a match indoors. It’s good to enjoy the two wins but we go on the road tomorrow and it’s time for a tough match on Sunday.
MATCH ONE – #20 UCF 6, Georgia Southern 1
The Knights began the year with a solid start in doubles play. The Black and Gold fielded a lineup of three returners matched with three newcomers, but the pairings competed like they had been playing together for years.
Senior Natalia Serrano and rookie Marie Mattel put UCF ahead in the doubles portion with a 6-3 victory over Lindsay Truscott and Luisa Hrda at No. 2. Sophomore Ksenia Kuznetsova and newcomer Valeriya Zeleva clinched the opening point of the season when they cruised to a 6-3 win over Emilia Bujan and Arianne De Winter at No. 1. Rebeka Stolmar and Nandini Sharma made it a clean sweep with their 7-5 doubles point over Paula Bioxader.
Heading into singles play, Zeleva proved why she had earned the No. 1 spot, as she quickly dispatched De Winter, 6-2, 6-1. Stolmar put the Black and Gold within one point of clinching a season-opening win with a flawless 6-1, 6-0 effort over Boixader at No. 2.
A trio of rookies sent the Knights out to a six-point lead, all in straight sets. Sharma sealed the match at No. 5 by downing Hrda 6-1, 6-1. Mattel came up with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Bujan, before Domenika Turkovic knocked off Mila Hartig at no. 4, 6-4, 6-2.
The only blip for the Knights came at No. 6, when rookie Valentina Martin was narrowly edged by Elizabeth Goines 7-5, 4-6, 10-4.
MATCH TWO – UCF 7, Stetson 0
After a short break, the Knights moved indoors for their second match of the day to help with their preparations for the ITA Kickoff Weekend next week at Northwestern.
As with the morning, the doubles pairings cruised to a trio of wins and the opening point. Mattel and Serrano started things off again with a 6-1 win over Brooke Milner and Vicky Geurinckx at No. 2. Stolmar and Turkovic downed Danielle Peele and Alexe Viaud. Kuznetsova and Zeleva had to hold off a charge from Danel Ashirova and Lucie Renault but kept the doubles record perfect with a 6-4 win at No. 1.
Sharma made it two matches in a row to start her career with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Guerinckx at No. 5, before Zeleva bested Danel Ahirova 6-0, 6-1. Serrano clinched the win at No. 4 with a straight set victory over Peele, 6-1, 6-0.
Sara Culbertson picked up her first victory in Black and Gold at No. 6 by battling to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Viaud. Mattel had to ward off a tough opponent in Brooke Milner but came away with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. Kuznetsova bounced back after a tough start to the second set to win her match against Renault and make it a clean sweep for the Black and Gold.
UP NEXT
UCF will hit the road for a top-20 showdown against No. 15 Florida State on Sunday at 1 p.m. To follow the match in live stats, click here.