ORLANDO, Fla. - The UCF men's tennis team (4-10) dropped a 4-3 heartbreaker to No. 3 Texas on Saturday afternoon. The Knights picked up the doubles point after taking down the 3rd-ranked duo from the Longhorns, but fell short in singles, only securing two of them.
The doubles pairings continued on the momentum created in the match against No. 4 Ohio State. The No. 76 duo of Lleyton Cronje and Bogdan Pavel faced a tough battle on paper, going up against the third-ranked tandem of Eliot Spizzirri and Cleeve Harper on court one. Not letting the rankings fool them, the Knights pairing quickly took down the Longhorns (6-3) to give it its second top-10 win of the week. The Longhorns took court three, 6-4, tying the doubles point at one court apiece. It all came down to Cooper White and Paul Colin on court two. They were down early in the match, dropping the first two games. The Black and Gold kicked it into high gear and emerged victorious, taking the match 6-4. With this win, the Knights led 1-0 going into singles.
The momentum shifted in favor of the Longhorns when it came to singles, who took the first set on all courts. No. 105 Pavel fell short against No. 1 Spizzirri on court one (6-3, 6-2), giving Texas its first point of the afternoon. Seconds apart, court two and court six also went to the Longhorns, who pulled ahead to lead the match 3-1. Court four also went Texas' way, sealing the match victory. It was then decided that the remaining courts would be played out.
The Knights got their first singles point on court four, where the 18th-ranked Siem Woldeab was forced to retire, giving Liam Branger his first ranked victory of his career (6(5)-7(7), 3-1, retired).
Freshman Yassine Dlimi earned his second ranked win of the season, taking court three over No. 67 Micah Braswell. After dropping the first set, Dlimi came back strong, only allowing his opponent to win a total of four games in the final two sets. He bounced back after his loss earlier in the week against Ohio State, winning the match 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
#3 University of Texas 4, UCF 3
Singles competition
1. #1 Eliot Spizzirri (UT) def. #105 Bogdan Pavel (UCF) 6-3, 6-2
2. #40 Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) def. Lleyton Cronje (UCF) 6-2, 6-2
3. Yassine Dlimi (UCF) def. #67 Micah Braswell (UT) 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
4. Liam Branger (UCF) def. #18 Siem Woldeab (UT) 6-7, 3-1, retired
5. Nevin Arimilli (UT) def. Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) 7-5, 6-1
6. Evin McDonald (UT) def. Francisco Llanes (UCF) 6-1, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #76 Lleyton Cronje/Bogdan Pavel (UCF) def. #3 Eliot Spizzirri/Cleeve Harper (UT) 6-3
2. Paul Colin/Cooper White (UCF) def. Siem Woldeab/Pierre-Yves Bailly (UT) 6-4
3. Chih Chi Huang/Micah Braswell (UT) def. Yassine Dlimi/Francisco Llanes (UCF) 6-4
Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (1,6,2,5,4,3)
UP NEXT
The Knights continue their home stand this week, hosting Arkansas on Wednesday, Mar. 22 and AAC opponent Wichita State on Friday, Mar. 24. Both matches will have a first serve time of 5 p.m.
