CINCINNATI, Ohio – The UCF women’s tennis team brought out the brooms Friday afternoon, swiftly defeating Cincinnati 4-0. Highlighted by Olivia Lincer’s first win of the Big 12 Conference season, the Knights marched to victory to kick off their two-match homestand.
Doubles play started off with a boom from court two, where Sophia Biolay and Jantje Tilbuerger blanked their Bearcats opponents, 6-0, to give UCF the first doubles court. UC retaliated, taking court three to even the doubles tally. The top doubles pairing of Anique Kattenberg and Noel Saidenova brought the doubles point home with a late break at court one, 6-4, to give the Knights the early 1-0 lead.
The high energy continued into singles, with UCF taking five of the six first sets to continue the lead. Kattenberg remained reliable at court five, dishing out another victory for the Knights. Her fourth win in the month of March, a 6-2, 6-3 decision, gave the Knights the first singles point of the match and a 2-0 lead.
Striking next was freshman Olivia Lincer. A shift in the singles lineup meant that Lincer was moved to the second singles position for the first time in conference play. She won a battling first set, 6-3, and returned in dominating fashion after set break to earn her third singles win of the season, 6-3, 6-1. The victory marks her third straight-set win of the season, previously winning two in a double-header versus North Florida and Bethune-Cookman.
The clinching point for the Knights came from none other than Saidenova. In her first time playing at the top singles position, and just her second time in her collegiate career, the junior showed skill and persistence from the get-go. A strong 6-3 first set gave her the confidence to continue to make brave shots. Another 6-3 from Saidenova set propelled the Knights to victory and secured the 4-0 sweep. The junior leads the team in clinching points this season with three, including the clincher over TCU for UCF’s first Big 12 win in program history.
⚔️ KNIGHTS WIN ⚔️
— UCF Women's Tennis (@UCF_WTennis) March 22, 2024
Bring out the brooms 🧹🧹🧹🧹 pic.twitter.com/rbSq8UpbgB
All other matches went unfinished when the match was clinched, including a strong 6-4, 5-2, unfinished match on court four from Tilbuerger. Biolay also led when the match was finalized, 6-1, 3-6, 3-1, unfinished, at court three.
UP NEXT
The Knights close out the weekend in Morgantown, W.V., taking on West Virginia. First serve against the Mountaineers is slated for 11 a.m.