CHAMPAIGN, ILL. - Members of the UCF women's tennis team traveled to Champaign, Ill. this week to take part in the ITF W15 Champaign tournament. Sophia Biolay, Marie Mattel, Jantje Tilbuerger, and Noel Saidenova all competed in the singles main draw, beginning Monday, Nov. 7 and ending Wednesday, Nov. 9, with both Tilbuerger and Saidenova making it to the second round of the main draw.
Biolay began her run in the qualifying draw, easily taking down both her opponents in the draw. She defeated first round opponent Canadian Sarah Barry in two sets (6-0, 6-1). Biolay faced Susanna Maltby in a closely contested second round but came out on top once again to advance to the main draw by a score of (7-6, 7-5). Her tournament came to a close in the first round of the main draw, where she dropped to four seed Maria Kozyreva in a two-set match with a score of (6-4, 6-2).
Mattel also started her time at the tournament in the qualifying draw, and quickly advanced to the main draw. She faced Isabella Barrera Aguirre in the first round of the qualifying draw and quickly won the match by a score of (6-0, 6-2). Up against Cali Fuller in the second round, Mattel easily took her down in a two-set match with a (6-0, 7-6) score to move onto the main draw. In the first round of the main draw, Mattel faced Fangran Tian, a freshman from UCLA. This was where her run ended, as she was defeated in two sets by a score of (6-2, 6-3).
Tilbuerger came into the tournament in the three seed and played her first round in the main draw against Chelsea Fontenel, a freshman from Arizona State. Both sets in this first match were closely contested, but Tilbuerger came out on top to advance to the second round with a score of (7-5, 7-5). In the Sweet 16 round, she faced Illinois' Ashley Yeah. After putting up a good fight and taking the first set, Tilbuerger was defeated in a three-set match, with a score of (6-3, 4-6, 2-6) to end her tournament run.
Saidenova was placed in the eight seed to start the tournament, facing off against Maya Joint in the first round of the main draw. The match went back and forth with both competitors winning one set, but Saidenova emerged victorious from the tiebreaker in the three-set match (6-3, 4-6, 6-3), advancing to the second round. She faced a familiar player in the second round, Tian, who defeated Mattel in the first round. Saidenova's tournament also came to a close in the second round, as Tian took the match in two sets with a score of (1-6, 2-6).
UP NEXT
The Knights will next travel to Jacksonville to take part in the UNF Fall Invitational, starting Friday, Nov. 11. This will be the final collegiate tournament of the fall season for the Black and Gold, with one additional professional tournament taking place the week after in Waco, Texas.