No. 23 Women's Tennis Tops No. 15 Baylor in Dramatic 5-2 VictoryNo. 23 Women's Tennis Tops No. 15 Baylor in Dramatic 5-2 Victory

No. 23 Women's Tennis Tops No. 15 Baylor in Dramatic 5-2 Victory

by Alex Clough
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ORLANDO - History has been following this team along every step of the way, and on a special Friday night at the USTA National Campus, the No. 23 UCF women’s tennis team wrote another chapter.

Facing No. 13 Baylor (11-2, 2-1), the Knights (11-1, 3-0) tallied their third top-25 win of the season and third-highest ranked win in program history.

After grabbing a pair of doubles points in the squad’s conference-opening weekend sweep on the road, the Knights authored another brilliant display against the Bears. An early win for Baylor on court three made for a contentious spell on one and two, a challenge UCF was up for.

Opposite the 15th-ranked tandem in the country, Olivia Lincer and Hannah Rylatt were resounding in their effort, leveling the point with the duo’s highest-ranked win together, 6-3. With the momentum back in the Black and Gold’s favor, Sophia Biolay and Aya El Aouni the fourth-consecutive doubles victory for the squad, defeating Baylor’s 89th-ranked duo of Sierra and Na Dong.

With two of the top-three teams in the Big 12 preseason poll, the singles point made for an enticing matchup. While the majority of courts saw prolonged first sets, Olivia Lincer’s contest on court two was anything but. 

The Polish native disposed of Baylor’s Liubov Kostenko in the first, 6-1, before dropping the next, making for a dramatic decider. With each court now embarking on their second sets, Lincer doubled the Knights’ advantage with emphatic display in the third, 6-1.

Immediately bouncing back with wins on court one and four, as the 82nd-ranked El Aouni was handed her first collegiate loss, the Bears pushed the contest across the three-hour mark.

Riding a seven-match winning streak, Biolay defeated Zuzanna Kubacha, 7-5, 7-5, on court three to put the Knights within one.

With an energetic crowd shifting their sights towards the back two courts, they were in store for an ending that likely won’t be seen again. Both sitting just a game away from clinching their third sets, both served just seconds apart.

Slotting into court six, Jantje Tilbuerger officially found the fourth point with a comeback triumph against Wenfei Yu, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4. As a group of Knights crowded the junior, freshman Olivia Bergler followed shortly with her win over Kennedy Gibbs, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.

UCF will be back in action for a meeting with No. 40 TCU on Sunday at Noon.

Singles Results

  1. Cristina Tiglea (BAY) def. #82 Aya El Aouni (UCF) 6-4, 6-4
  2. Olivia Lincer (UCF) def. Liubov Kostenko (BAY) 6-1, 3-6, 6-1
  3. #87 Sophia Biolay (UCF) def. Zuzanna Kubacha (BAY) 7-5, 7-5
  4. #85 Na Dong (BAY) def. Jade Psonka (UCF) 7-5, 6-2
  5. Olivia Bergler (UCF) def. Kennedy Gibbs (BAY) 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3
  6. Jantje Tilbuerger (UCF) Wenfei Yu (BAY) 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-4

Doubles Results

  1. Olivia Lincer/Hannah Rylatt (UCF) def. #15 Christina Tiglea/Liubov Kostenko (BAY) 6-3
  2. Sophia Biolay/Aya El Aouni (UCF) def. #89 Sierra Berry/Na Dong (BAY) 6-4
  3. Wenfei Yu/Zubacha (BAY) def. Olivia Bergler/Janjte Tilbuerger (UCF) 6-3