HOUSTON, Texas – Highlighted by a stellar singles play performance, the UCF women’s tennis team earned its third-consecutive Big 12 Conference win against Houston Saturday afternoon.
The Knights fell down 1-0 early after dropping the doubles point but picked up three first sets to shift the momentum. Anique Kattenberg showed absolute dominance at court four against Elena Trencheva. Her third-consecutive straight-set victory got the Black and Gold on the board and tied the match at one point all. She took care of business, winning 6-1, 6-2, for her seventh singles victory of the season, a career high.
The next Knight to put a point on the board was Donatella Guarnieri, who joined the team just one month ago after playing with the club team for the start of her collegiate career. A battling first set saw the sophomore emerge victorious to claim her first singles set at UCF, 7-6(1). The second set continued to be a fight between the two on court five, but she demonstrated that she could hold her own with a 7-5 second set victory to tie the match at two points all.
It was all Knights from that point on, forcing third sets on courts where they had dropped the first. Sophia Biolay, who is ranked No. 119 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association singles poll, gave UCF the 3-2 advantage at court two. After dropping the second set, she found her rhythm to earn her tenth singles win of the season (7-6[3], 3-6, 6-2). This marks the first time in her collegiate career that she has earned double-digit singles wins in a dual-matches season.
The clinch was found on court three, with Jantje Tilbuerger continuing to find success at the third position. Her seventh singles win of the season came in the form of a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 clinching victory to secure UCF’s third-consecutive win on the road.
UP NEXT
The Knights return home this week for their final home stand of their inaugural Big 12 season. No. 75 Kansas State comes to Orlando Friday at 6 p.m. before the home season finale against No. 1 Oklahoma State Sunday. Senior Knight festivities will begin approximately ten minutes prior to first serve time, set for 1 p.m.