ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men’s tennis team traveled to Indiana to take on the Hoosiers Friday night. The competition was tight throughout and ended with the Knights coming out on top 4-3 for their first victory of the 2019 season.
Doubles play began with Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel jumping out to monstrous 4-0 lead on court one against Brandon Lam and Carson Haskins. UCF’s top pair would go on to win 6-2. Seconds later, court two finished with Indiana’s Bennett Crane and Zac Brodney taking down Gabriel Decamps and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi by a score of 6-1. Mikhail Sokolovskiy and Alan Rubio performed well on court three as they triumphed over Vikash Singh and Antonio Cembellin 6-2 to clinch the doubles point for the Knights.
Indiana would answer right back as they grabbed the first singles point on court four. Here, Hilderbrand was bested by Brodney 6-4, 6-1.
UCF would bounce right back as Pavel picked up his first collegiate victory as he bested Singh 6-2, 6-3 on court six. Indiana would earn another singles point moments after court six was clinched as Sokolovskiy was edged by Andrew Redding 7-5, 6-2 on court five.
Court one saw No. 17 Decamps take down Cembellin by a count of 6-3, 6-3. That makes two straight victories for Decamps, who recently jumped in the ITA/ORACLE singles rankings from thirty first to seventeenth.
Two courts remained with the Knights leading 3-1, both of which were close. In the end, it was Grassi Mazzuchi who got the clincher on court three for his first victory for the Black and Gold over Haskins, taking set one 6-4 and eventually set two 7-5.
With the match already clinched, the remaining court decided to play things out. Eventually, No. 122 Rubio was narrowly defeated on court two by No. 111 Crane 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.
UP NEXT
The Knights look to keep the momentum going against No. 16 Michigan on the road at noon on Sunday. This will be the third ranked team that UCF will have faced in their first six matches.
COLLEGE MATCHDAY
With less than a month to go until College Matchday, don’t miss an opportunity to see the Knights battle the Miami Hurricanes. Click here to claim your free ticket.
GET THE APP
Never miss any UCF Knights news from your favorite team by downloading the free UCF Knights app right to your iOS or Android phone! The app provides personalized information for men's and women's teams, scores, schedules, loyalty programs and even breaking news.
FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS
Follow UCF Men'sTennis on social media on Facebook (/UCF.MTennis), Twitter (UCF_MTennis) and Instagram (UCF.MTennis).