ORLANDO, Fla. – The No. 18 UCF women's tennis team earned their first victory against a top five team in program history as they went on the road to beat No. 4 FSU on Friday afternoon by a count of 4-3. The contest came down to the last court standing where Valeriya Zeleva clinched the match in a three-set battle. The Black and Gold were the only team to hand the Seminoles a home loss this season.
"Very proud of the team today," said head coach Bryan Koniecko. "We showed some great resilience after losing a tough doubles point on the road to the number four team in the country. We were down in some first sets but we kept fighting. I'm proud of Lera for winning that one for the team. She had her chances to close it out in the second set but was able to regroup. She's one of the toughest players in the country and that's what makes her good."
It was obvious that the two teams were in for a tight contest from the start. The doubles segment was back and forth on multiple courts but ultimately went the way of FSU. Court two finished first as No. 5 Nandini Das and Andrea Garcia defeated Evgeniya Levashova and Nadja Bay Christians 6-3. The doubles point was secured by the Seminoles on court one where No. 19 Victoria Allen and Emmanuelle Salas edged Valeriya Zeleva and Ksenia Kuznetsova 6-4. Court three went unfinished as Rebeka Stolmar and Nandini Sharma were trailing Giuila Pairone and Anna Arkadianou 5-4.
Things didn't start out too promising in singles. No. 110 Levashova was the first to claim a set, but at the time, UCF was trailing in four first sets. No. 22 Zeleva, who was down 5-4, and No. 28 Stolmar, who trailed 4-1, were able to turn their first frames around, helping the Knights take four of six possible first sets. The momentum of their come from behind efforts carried over into the second stanzas across all courts as every match saw a Knight with a lead.
No. 110 Levashova was the first to put a point on the scoreboard in singles, earning a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Garcia on court four.
The Knights pulled in front with a victory on court six as Sharma triumphed over Alice Amendola by a count of 6-1, 6-4. The win was the sixth straight for Sharma as she improves to 7-1 this season.
The Black and Gold's captain was next to lock up a victory as No. 28 Stolmar, who was down 4-1 in her first set, bested Das 6-4, 6-3 on court two. Stolmar is up to double digit wins on the season as she now sits at a record of 10-5 in singles.
FSU didn't go away quietly as they took court five to narrow the deficit as Jaleesa Leslie's winning streak came to an end at the hands of Arkadianou in a 6-1, 7-5 decision.
The remaining two matches were forced into third sets. The Seminoles tied the match at 3-3 with their victory on court three where Allen topped Kuznetsova 6-2, 1-6, 6-3.
The fate of the match rested in the hands of court one, where No. 22 Zeleva and No. 40 Salas were dueling all afternoon long. After two tight sets were split, Zeleva dominated in the final frame, earning her tenth straight victory by edging Salas 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. She's defeated six ranked opponents in eight tries this season and sits with a record of 10-2. Zeleva hasn't lost since Jan. 25 where she fell in straight sets against No. 8 NC State during ITA Kickoff Weekend.
UCF's victory snaps FSU's seven match winning streak and hands them their first home loss of the season. The Seminoles were 12-0 at home prior to Friday's result as they were looking to secure a perfect regular season at home in their final match of the season.
UCF has only played two matches against top-five competition in Koniecko's tenure, with both of them occurring this season. The Knights fell 4-0 to No. 2 Texas earlier in the year and earned their first top-five victory in program history with Friday's win.
It's just the second time in program history that the Knights have beaten the Seminoles. The first occurrence was in 2019 when UCF punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16 by topping No. 11 nationally seeded FSU 4-1 on their home courts.
UP NEXT
The Knights will wrap up their regular season slate as they host No. 46 Tulsa at noon.
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