TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The No. 21 UCF men's tennis team won their sixth consecutive match as they defeated FSU by a count of 4-3 on Friday night.
"We fought through a tough match on the road tonight," said Director of Tennis John Roddick. "We were gritty when it counted, good effort tonight from the guys."
The doubles segment was about as tight as it could be as both teams were stride for stride with each other until the very end. Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and Bogdan Pavel struck first on court two by winning their sixth straight match, coming back from down 4-2 to win 6-4 over Marcus Walters and Loris Purroy. FSU answered in a hurry, securing court three as Chase Wood and Andreja Petrovic edged Mikhail Sokolovskiy and Kento Yamada 6-4. The doubles point rested on the shoulders of Trey Hilderbrand and Gabriel Decamps on court one. After being tied 4-4, they powered through the next two games, sealing the 6-4 win over Sebastian Arcila and Alex Knaff to win doubles.
Similar to doubles, singles was close across most courts and saw the Knights take four of six first sets.
UCF was first to the scoreboard in singles as Yamada remained perfect, improving to 7-0 this season with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Walters on court five.
The Seminoles answered soon after, collecting a 6-3, 6-2 win on court three as Richard Thongoana topped No. 52 Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi.
Mikhail Sokolovskiy continued his winning ways, earning a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Petrovic on court six. Sokolovskiy has won nine consecutive singles matches and is 9-1 on the campaign. The win is Sokolovskiy's 67th of his career and is alone in fourth place on UCF's career singles victories list. He needs 72 to pass Johan Westin (1998-02) for sole possession of third place.
FSU didn't go away quietly as they took two courts to even the match at 3-3. The Seminoles were victorious on court two as Pourroy edged Alan Rubio 6-4, 7-6 (7-5). Shortly after, FSU took court four by a decision of 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 where Arcila topped Hilderbrand.
The fate of the match was in No. 16 Decamps' hands as he was squaring off with No. 77 Knaff. Decamps was victorious in the first frame but saw Knaff power his way to a quick second stanza win. It was all Decamps in the third set as he coasted to a 7-6, 1-6, 6-1 victory. He has won seven consecutive singles matches and improves to 3-1 against ranked opponents and 9-1 this season.
The Seminoles were the third straight team the Knights have played that were receiving votes in the latest edition of the Oracle/ITA team rankings. UCF is 7-1 against in-state foes so far this season after playing eight different teams in Florida. They'll finish off their Florida slate against two teams they've already beat this season, facing North Florida and South Florida later in the season.
The Black and Gold improve to 4-0 on the road with the win. UCF has been on a roll, winning 16 of their last 18 matches dating back to last season. The victory over the Seminoles is the Knights' second out-of-conference Power 6 victory this year.
UP NEXT
The Knights will head to Athens to face No. 17 Georgia on Sunday at noon. The match will be the first time the two teams have faced each other in program history.
FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS
Follow UCF Men's Tennis on social media on Facebook (/UCF.MTennis), Twitter (UCF_MTennis) and Instagram (UCF.MTennis).
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. Click here to download the app now.
