CORAL GABLES, Fla. – The No. 21 ranked UCF women's tennis team's season came to a close Saturday afternoon in Coral Gables, Florida as the Knights fell, 4-1, to No. 9 Miami in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
"I'm proud of this team for getting to this point in the season. I thought today, we came out and played a great doubles point, and I give a lot of credit to Miami for fighting back," said head coach Bryan Koniecko. "They had a great season all year and we knew they wouldn't just go away after we got the doubles point.
"There were a couple of first sets that didn't go our way in the beginning, which gave Miami a little bit of momentum back in the match, but overall, I'm really proud of everything that these girls have done this season and all of the positive memories we can look back on. I'm excited about the leadership returning and we're going to try to achieve even higher goals next year."
The Knights started off hot after taking two of three doubles courts. Sophia Biolay and Nandini Sharma handedly won court two, 6-2, but the No. 48 ranked duo of Evgeniya Levashova and Marie Mattel couldn't keep pace with No. 13 Daevenia Achong and Eden Richardson on court one, causing it all to come down to court three.
As the only court remaining in doubles and with the whole stadium watching, UCF's Jaleesa Leslie and Noel Saidenova were down 5-4 but roared back to tie it up at six and send it to a tiebreaker, where they won 7-3 to secure the doubles point and put UCF up 1-0.
Despite dropping the important early advantage, Miami was in prime form to start the singles portion of the match, taking the first set on five of six courts. The Hurricanes would go on take the second set on four of those courts to secure the 4-1 win over the Knights.
UCF closed out the 2021-22 season at 16-8 overall and 3-0 in conference play. The Black and Gold moved to a 6-4 record in the NCAA Tournament under Koniecko. The team has made it to the big dance in four of his five full seasons with the Knights, reaching the postseason in four consecutive tries. The Knights have successfully advanced past the first round of the big dance in four straight appearances.
UCF's Marie Mattel's season lives on as the junior will play in the NCAA Singles Championship, which takes place from May 23-28 at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in Champaign, Illinois.
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