ORLANDO – The No. 14 men’s tennis team fell to No. 9 Arizona, the tournament’s one-seed, in the semifinals on Friday evening at the USTA National Campus, 4-3.
Despite their conference tournament journey being over, the Knights are in good standing to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament beginning the first weekend of May. The Knights finished their regular season with a 19- 5 record, not dropping one match at home in the spring slate.
The semifinal contest began in a tight battle for the doubles point. Senior tandem Yassine Dlimi and Paul Colin were admist a close match, finishing at 5-5 once play was halted following dropped courts of two and three. The newly formed duo of Wissam Abderrahman and Clement Lemire were bested by the No. 47 pairing of Cole Stelse and Alejandro Arcila, 6-4 while Luca Hotze and Nicolas Oliveira fell 6-3 to Jay Friend and Alexander Rozin, 6-3 on two.
Moving into singles play, it was a back-and-forth exchange of court claims as No. 78 Dlimi was bested by No. 4 Jay Friend on one, 6-3, 6-1, but almost immediately after, Paul Colin picked up a win for the Knights, besting No. 83 Zoran Ludoski on four, 6-3, 7-5.
Next to strike was resident of court two, Abderrahman, getting the best of his opponent in No. 66 Filip Gustafsson, 6-4, 7-5. Minutes later, Clement Lemire won his 13th win of the season, claiming court six with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 result over Alejandro Arcila.
One court over, Oliveira could overcome a comeback by his Arizona State foe Glib Sekachov, falling in a three-set contest, 6-7 (2-7), 6-1, 6-2, evening the match score.
All eyes moved to court three housing freshman Pedro Rodrigues as the win and a ticket to the championship match hung in the balance. In heartbreaking fashion, Rodrigues couldn’t clinch the three-set match, dropping the competition, 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-4.
The Knights will now move their attention to securing an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament beginning May 2-3.
ABOUT UCF ATHLETICS
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida's preeminent athletic program representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as "Orlando's Hometown Team". To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.