ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF women's tennis team competed at ITF W25 Daytona in Daytona, Florida and the UNF Invite in Jacksonville on Friday.
Marie Mattel and Nandini Sharma represented the Knights at the UNF Invite.
In doubles, Mattel and Sharma opened up with an upset over No. 29 Jenna Thompson and Eleni Louka from Clemson in a 6-2 decision. The duo moved on in Flight 1 of the tournament to take on Catherine Gulihur and Isabel Oliveira from host team UNF. The Knights put up a fight, but were edged out in the end, falling 7-6(5) to the Ospreys.
The pair will play for third place in the 3-4 playoff tomorrow against Alicia Dudeney and Emma Shelton from Florida.
In singles action, Sharma earned an upset in straight sets as she defeated No. 83 Jenna Thompson from Clemson by a score of 6-2, 6-1. Mattel also faced a top-ranked opponent of No. 45 Carolyn Ansari from Auburn where she forced three sets, but ultimately fell in 6-3, 4-6, 6-0.
Evgeniya Levashova and Valeriya Zeleva competed in the ITF W25 Daytona main draw this week. The pair teamed up and made it to the semifinals after two big wins earlier in the week. In the first round, the duo topped the No. 4 seed doubles team with WTA rankings of 242 and 254 by a score of 6-4, 6-3. They then won the quarterfinals match in a hard-fought battle in 6-2, 4-6, 10-5.
Today in the semifinals, the Knights faced the doubles team of WTA ranked 366 and 480. The duo fought hard with a big second set win, but was edged out in the end, falling 2-6, 6-0, 16-14.
RESULTS
UNF INVITE - DAY 1
Doubles
Marie Mattel/Nandini Sharma def. No. 29 Thompson/Louka (Clemson) – 6-2
Gulihur/Oliveria (UNF) def. Marie Mattel/Nandini Sharma – 7-6(5)
Singles
Marie Mattel vs No. 45 Carolyn Ansari (Auburn)
Nandini Sharma vs No. 83 Jenna Thompson (Clemson)
W25 DAYTONA
Doubles
Evgeniya Levashova/Valeriya Zeleva def. Myers/Popovic – 6-4, 6-3
Evgeniya Levashova/Valeriya Zeleva def. Shaffer/Tilbuerger – 6-2, 4-6, 10-5
Osborne/Parks def. Evgeniya Levashova/Valeriya Zeleva – 2-6, 6-0, 16-14
Singles
Irina Fetecau def. Evgeniya Levashova – 6-2, 6-1
UP NEXT
The Knights will be back on the courts tomorrow to continue play at the UNF Invite with one singles and one doubles match.
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