ORLANDO, Fla. – The No. 22 UCF men's tennis team extended their winning streak to eight straight matches on Wednesday evening as they defeated South Alabama 4-1.
"We struggled a little bit in doubles today, but I think we did a way better job in singles," said UCF assistant coach Georgi Rumenov. "The guys came back after the doubles point really pumped up. I think the big difference from yesterday was taking care of that first set. After that, we were in control of almost all the courts."
Doubles play was tight throughout. The Jaguars struck first as Sebastien Collard and Leon Petko beat Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel 6-3 on court two. UCF answered with a win on court one as No. 7 Gabriel Decamps and Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi topped Loic Cloes and Clement Marzol 6-4, giving the Knight pair their tenth win of the season. South Alabama took the doubles point on court three as Louis Delcour and Martin Bugaj edged Alan Rubio and Mikhail Sokolovskiy.
The Black and Gold came out strong to start singles play, winning five of six first sets.
Sokolovskiy was the first singles court to finish as he picked up a quick 6-2, 6-1 victory over Petko. Hilderbrand followed closely behind Sokolovskiy as he downed Collard 6-4, 6-2 to give the Knights a 2-1 edge.
It was a little while before anyone else was able to finish their match, as South Alabama pushed back in a few second sets. Eventually, No. 19 Decamps was able to close the door on Cloes, winning 6-2, 6-4.
The two-time reigning American Athletic Conference Player of the Week, No. 76 Grassi Mazzuchi went on to clinch the match, defeating Marzol 6-4, 6-3 on court two.
Courts three and four went unfinished, as Pavel was leading Bugaj in a third set on court four while Rubio was down a set but up 3-1 in the second frame.
The streak of eight consecutive victories surpasses the longest of last season as the Knights went on a seven-match winning streak from Feb. 24 to March 8. The last time the Knights pieced together an eight-match winning streak was during Director of Tennis John Roddick's first season in 2017. UCF started that streak with a 6-1 win against South Alabama and went unbeaten from March 12 through April 22.
UP NEXT
The Knights are set to continue their homestand at 1 p.m. on March 21 against UNF.
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