ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The No. 27 UCF women’s tennis team picked up their eleventh win in a row as they defeated the Pennsylvania Quakers by a score of 5-2.
“I thought we came out pretty strong in singles play after losing the doubles point,” said head coach Bryan Koniecko, “Nandini, Domi, Nat and Marie did a good job of closing and closing quickly. Ksenia did a good job of staying tough against a tough opponent and closing out a tough second set. I thought as a team we responded well in singles today.”
Doubles play began with UCF taking court three as Nandini Sharma and Marie Mattel defeated Carolyn Xie and Ashley Zhu 6-4. Sharma and Mattel are 3-0 as a duo, seeing time at the second and third doubles positions. Penn struck back on court two, where Natalia Serrano and Stolmar fell to Iuliia Bryzgalova and OJ Singh 6-3. Court one saw a tight match where No. 18 Ksenia Kuznetsova and Valeriya Zeleva battled Marija Curnic and Marta Kowalska. The match needed a tiebreak to decided it. In the end, the scoreboard favored Penn as they won 7-6 (7-5) to take the doubles point.
The Knights got back up and dusted themselves off in singles play, as courts five and six got two quick singles points on the board. Serrano was first to finish as she topped Singh 6-0, 6-1 on court five. Finishing just moments later on court six, Domenika Turkovic bested Jennifer Richards 6-0, 6-2.
UCF would continue to apply pressure as Sharma won on court four over Zhu 6-3, 6-1. The victory gives Sharma ten in a row, elevating her record to 12-1 on the season.
The Black and Gold would clinch on court three, where Mattel triumphed over Kowalska 6-3, 6-4.
With the match clinched, the remaining courts would be allowed to play themselves out. On court one, No. 27 Zeleva was edged by No. 111 Bryzgalova 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
The match would come to a close on court two where No. 70 Kuznetsova bested Kowalska 7-5, 6-4.
UP NEXT
The Knights will resume their conference schedule as they take on SMU. That match takes place Wednesday at 1 p.m.
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