ORLANDO – The brooms came out in abundance at the USTA National Campus on Saturday afternoon, as the UCF women’s tennis team swept No. 20 Georgia Tech to open the 2024 dual-match season. The Knights secured the doubles point and won three consecutive singles courts to take the match 4-0.
We’re super proud of the team. We talked about everyone on the team showing up today and they did. We shot off to some great first sets in singles and Georgia Tech, like they do, they fought us back in the second sets a bit, but we did a great job at closing it out.
Bryan KonieckoHead CoachThe doubles competition took off with Jantje Tilbuerger and Olivia Lincer finding their momentum early and keeping it until the end of the match, which they took 6-2 against Georgia Tech’s Kylie Bichev and Alejandra Cruz. The doubles pair of Noel Saidenova and Anique Kattenberg on court one fell short against Kate Sharabura and Carol Lee with a 6-2 loss shortly after. The doubles competition came down to court three, where Sophia Biolay and Jaleesa Leslie battled it out against the GT duo of Given Roach and Scarlett Nicholson. The Yellow Jacket tandem came out strong, jumping out to a 4-0 lead early in the match, but the Knights fought harder. Biolay and Kattenberg won six straight games, breaking and holding serve, to earn the doubles point for the Knights and their first dual match win together.
With spirits high, the Black and Gold went full force into singles play with Tilbuerger going head-to-head with Cruz on court three and Biolay on court two against No. 123 Bilchev, both sweeping their opponents in the first set without dropping a single game. The momentum continued on court one with freshman Lincer facing No. 107 Lee, picking up an immediate break and eventually taking the first set in a 6-2 fashion. Shortly after, Saidenova found first-set success against her opponent Mahak Jain with a 6-3 score. Jaleesa Leslie fought her way back into the first set after being down 4-2 against Roach on court five, powering through and clinching the set, 6-4. Of the six singles matches played, the Knights won five of the six first sets.
After seeing quick success in her first set, Tilbuerger continued to dominate and won her second set 6-0, dropping no games throughout her singles match, giving the Knights their first singles point of the day and strengthening their lead to 2-0. Following her teammate's lead, Saidenova finished out her match in two sets, 6-3, 6-3 giving the Knights a 3-0 lead over the Yellow Jackets.
The match was secured by a clinch on court five, where Leslie came in clutch, taking her second set with a dominant 6-3 decision to earn the clean sweep.
Three matches remained unfinished after the Knights clinched the win, all of which proved to be competitive matches. Lincer was tied 5-5 in her second set, Biolay was up 3-2 in her third set after falling 6-1 in the second. The final unfinished match was Kattenberg who dropped her first set 7-5 but came back to win the second set 6-2 and was in pursuit of the third set, 1-0.
UP NEXT
The Knights have a busy week ahead of them, traveling to Norman, Oklahoma for the 2024 ITA Kickoff Weekend. UCF will take on No. 13 Oklahoma Jan. 27 at 11 a.m. and either No. 19 Cal or Illinois Jan. 28.
