ORLANDO – The No. 57 UCF men's tennis team (6-10) continued its win streak, defeating Wichita State 6-1, due in part to a strong start in the doubles point at the USTA National Campus. The Knights put on an impressive performance, taking the doubles point and winning four out of the six singles courts in straight sets.
The first doubles action came from court two, where Paul Colin and Cooper White took on Wichita State's second tandem. The Knights were dominant throughout the match, winning 6-2 and securing the first doubles victory of the day.
In the first doubles position, the 30th-ranked tandem of Lleyton Cronje and Bogdan Pavel faced off against Wichita State's top pair. The Knights duo rebounded after the heartbreaker against Arkansas last match, taking a strong 6-4 victory to secure the doubles point for the squad.
Shfting into the singles competition, the first decision came from Yassine Dlimi against WSU's Oral Ovil. Dlimi only dropped three games in the entire match en route to his thrd-straight singles victory, taking court three 6-3, 6-0 to put the Knights up 2-0 on the match.
Moments later on court one, No. 105 Pavel swiftly defeated his Shocker opponent in straight sets, 6-2, 6-2. The Knight was in control the entire match and it showed, constantly breaking serve and acing his opponent over eight times.
UCF's Cronje was next up, taking on WSU's Kristof Minarik at the second singles position. Cronje showed his skill, winning the first set 6-3. Minarik put up a fight in the second set, tying Cronje at four games apiece, but the Knight refused to let it get to him, closing out the match with a 6-4 victory in the second set to clinch the match victory for the Black and Gold. Once the match was clinched, the coaches made the decision to play out the remaining courts.
The freshmen continued to put on a show for the crowd at USTA, with a strong straight set victory from Llanes on court six. Llanes was able to bounce back after a tough match against Arkansas, breaking serve on numerous occasions, to take the match 6-3, 6-4.
Mehdi Benchakroun put the cherry on top for the Knights on court five. After splitting the first two sets between the two opponents, Benchakroun and Alex Richards went head-to-head in a super tiebreak set to determine the winner. The Knight continued to apply pressure to his Shocker opponent, taking a demanding 10-3 victory in the set to cap off the night for the squad (6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-3)).
The lone point for the Shockers came from court four, where No. 84 Liam Branger fell in straight sets to Alejandro Jacome.
#57 UCF 6, Wichita St. 1
Singles competition
1. #105 Bogdan Pavel (UCF) def. Misha Kvantaliani (WSU) 6-2, 6-2
2. Lleyton Cronje (UCF) def. Kristof Minarik (WSU) 6-3, 6-4
3. Yassine Dlimi (UCF) def. Orel Ovil (WSU) 6-3, 6-0
4. Alejandro Jacome (WSU) def. #84 Liam Branger (UCF) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1
5. Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) def. Alex Richards (WSU) 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-3)
6. Francisco Llanes (UCF) def. Luke Bracks (WSU) 6-3, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #30 Lleyton Cronje/Bogdan Pavel (UCF) def. Misha Kvantaliani/Kristof Minarik (WSU) 6-4
2. Paul Colin/Cooper White (UCF) def. Luke Bracks/Alex Richards (WSU) 6-2
3. Yassine Dlimi/Francisco Llanes (UCF) vs. Alejandro Jacome/Orel Ovil (WSU) 5-4, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (3,1,2,4,6,5)
UP NEXT
The Black and Gold will head back on the road next week for a tough battle, traveling to take on conference foe No. 35 Memphis. The match has a first serve time of 12 p.m. and will take place at the Leftwich Tennis Center.
