ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF men's tennis team fell to No. 18 Michigan by a score of 0-7 on Saturday, March 5, at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
The fight for the doubles point was exciting as it came down to yet another tiebreaker, but this time on court three.
First, No. 30 Lleyton Cronje and Bogdan Pavel continued their streak after defeating Ondrej Styler and Gavin Young on court one by a score of 7-5, extending to four-straight wins.
But Michigan made it even as their ranked duo of No. 14 Nino Ehrenschneider and Andrew Fenty got the 6-4 win on court two over Trey Hilderbrand and Cooper White.
Heads turned to court three as JC Roddick and Alan Rubio were facing Nick Beat and Patrick Maloney in a tiebreaker where the two teams were going point for point, but the Wolverines ultimately got the advantage to clinch the match and the doubles point with a score of 7-6(5).
In singles action, Lleyton Cronje was unable to overcome Ondrej Styler as he fell, 6-3, 6-1, on court one while a few points later, Cooper White fell to Nick Beaty on court six, 6-3, 6-3, giving Michigan a 3-0 lead.
JC Roddick dropped his first set to Gavin Young on court five, 3-6, and nearly made things interesting in the second set, but ultimately fell 5-7 as the Wolverines clinched the match, 4-0.
With three court remaining, the match was played out. On court four, Alan Rubio was facing Patrick Maloney in a tiebreaker in an attempt to force a third set, but Rubio's surge came up just short as he fell, 6-1, 7-6(4).
On court two, No. 55 Trey Hilderbrand was in his third set against Andrew Fenty but was unable to get ahead as he also dropped his match, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6.
Down to court three where Bogdan Pavel was taking on a ranked opponent of No. 75 Jacob Bickersteth. Pavel came out to win the first set in tiebreak fashion, 7-6(2), but dropped the second set, 3-6. As the match was already clinched, this match would be decided by a super tiebreak, but Pavel was unable to hold on as he fell 3-10.
UP NEXT
The Knights will be back at home next Friday, March 11, for a doubleheader against North Florida and Stetson at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
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