ORLANDO – The UCF women’s tennis team wrapped up its non-conference slate in the win column Sunday, earning two 4-0 sweeps over North Florida and Bethune-Cookman. Olivia Lincer and Mihaela Tsoneva both recorded their first collegiate singles wins in the Sunday doubleheader.
The Knights came out of the gate hot in doubles against the Ospreys, with Anique Kattenberg and Noel Saidenova winning their second-straight match at the first court, 6-1. Sophia Biolay and Stefani Webb at court three earned their first win as a duo over the UNF tandem of Sofia Snitko and Jasmin Makela. The pairs exchanged holds throughout the beginning of the match until it reached 4-4, when the Knights won two consecutive games to put them on top, securing the doubles point for UCF with the 6-4 victory. The doubles point marked the first time since January 28 that the Black and Gold have had a 1-0 lead heading into singles play.
The squad kept pushing in singles, starting off with a huge first set bagel on court two by No. 121 Biolay, 6-0. Webb, making her singles season debut at court three, also took her first set by outstanding margins, 6-1. Of the six first sets played, all six were won by the Knights, including another 6-1 win on court one by Lincer.
The first match to complete was none other than ranked Biolay, who took care of business with a swift 6-0, 6-1 for her first win as a ranked player, putting the Knights up 2-0 in the match. Not far behind was Saidenova, defeating her Osprey opponent 6-2, 6-1, her fourth singles win of the season. All eyes turned to courts one, three and five, who were neck-in-neck as to who would finish first. Freshman Lincer applied the pressure at position one to secure the sweep, a 6-1, 6-2, win that marked her first singles win as a member of the Knights.
FLEW to victory ‼️ pic.twitter.com/LYBeQnEDiR
— UCF Women's Tennis (@UCF_WTennis) February 25, 2024
All other matches went unfinished once the match was clinched. Both Webb, 6-1, 5-2, and Jantje Tilbuerger, 6-2, 5-2, were within one game of earning a win and Kattenberg led 6-3, 3-0 on court six.
The Black and Gold carried the energy into the afternoon match against the Wildcats, where just four courts of singles were played to decide the match. The squad kept the pressure going as the match continued. Kattenberg, on court four, earned her first win of the season, 6-0, 6-0, in less than thirty minutes. Picking up where she left off earlier in the day, Lincer took her second win of the day, also at court one, 6-0, 6-1.
Saidenova secured her match next with a straight-set victory at court two, 6-1, 6-2. It all came down to Tsoneva on court three to clinch the match win for UCF. Her B-CU opponent gave her difficulty in the first set, falling 6-2. After the set break, the freshman came back with a vengence, taking the second set 6-0 to force a third. Six games into the third set, as Tsoneva led 4-2, the Wildcat was forced to retire, securing the 4-0 sweep for the Knights.
Sunday Sweep 🧹 pic.twitter.com/f1ffjXUanK
— UCF Women's Tennis (@UCF_WTennis) February 25, 2024
UP NEXT
The Knights open their inaugural conference season as a member of the Big 12 Conference this weekend, hosting a pair of conference opponents at the USTA National Campus. BYU comes to town Thursday, with first serve slated for 6 p.m., followed by No. 22 Texas Tech Saturday at noon.