ORLANDO – The UCF men's tennis team's run in the NCAA Doubles Championship came to a close on Thursday afternoon, as the duo of Bogdan Pavel and Lleyton Cronje fell in the round of 16, 7-5, 7-6(1).
After defeating UNC's duo the day before in two tiebreaker sets, the Knights advanced to the second round to face off against No. 7 Andrew Fenty and Gavin Young from Michigan. The tandems traded holds back and forth until the Wolverines secured a break to go up 6-5 and then a hold to take the first set 7-5.
Heading into the second set, Michigan got a break in the first game, but the Knights battled hard to get a break back and get a hold, going up 2-1. This momentum continued through the second set, putting Cronje and Pavel within one game of forcing a third set at 5-3. Michigan came back to put the Knights in familiar territory, in a second set tiebreaker. The Black and Gold duo battled hard, but ultimately fell short, dropping the tiebreaker, 7-1.
The pairing finished the spring season with a 12-8 record, and was the first tandem to qualify for the NCAA Doubles Championship since 2021.