ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) – After recording two wins on a spring break trip, the UCF women’s tennis team returned to the UCF Tennis Complex to defeat Penn State, 5-2, on Saturday. The Knights did not drop a set in their four singles victories to improve their record to 8-4 on the season.
“We fortunately won the doubles point, but it was not our best performance,” said UCF head coach Stephanie Nickitas. “Even though, we battled through it, we still need to work on a lot of things. The girls really competed well in singles. There were a lot of really close matches and I just like to see the toughness. I think that in certain instances you could see that on our side we were tougher than our opponents.”
UCF began the day by snatching the doubles point against Penn State (2-10). Sophomore Jenny Frisell (Gothenberg, Sweden) and senior Elvira Serrot (Madrid, Spain) teamed up to record an 8-6 victory against Sarah Lotto and Monika Mical at No. 1. The Knights clinched the doubles point at No. 3 when freshman Christy Core (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior Katie Orletsky (Titusville, Fla.) triumphed in a tiebreaker 9-8 (9-7) over Leyla Morzan and Maria Prishlyak.
After securing the doubles point, Core at No. 4 started singles play off strong with a 6-4, 6-3 win against Prishlyak. UCF pushed its advantage to 3-0 when Orletsky at No. 6 finished off Michaela Stracar in a second-set tiebreak, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).
Frisell won the first set against Mical, 6-2, and took an early lead in the second, but her opponent pushed the set into a decisive tiebreaker. Bouncing back at No. 1, Frisell took the match without giving up a point to clinch it for the Knights to take 4-0 lead against the Nittany Lions.
At No. 2, Yacaman battled Lauren McCarthy in the first set to a 7-4 victory in the tiebreaker. The freshman used the momentum to finish off her opponent, 6-3, in the second set.
The Knights return to the courts Monday at 2 p.m. against No. 12 Clemson at the UCF Tennis Complex. The match will serve as the second of a four-match homestand, where admission is free.
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Tennis Match Results
Penn State vs UCF
3/14/2009 at Orlando, Fla.
UCF 5, Penn State 2
Singles competition
1. Jenny Frisell (UCF) def. Monika Mical (PSU) 6-2, 7-6 (7-0)
2. Andrea Yacaman (UCF) def. Lauren McCarthy (PSU) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3
3. Denisa Zobeideh (PSU) def. Elvira Serrot (UCF) 6-4, 1-6, 6-2
4. Leyla Morzan (PSU) def. Alexis Rodriguez (UCF) 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-8)
5. Christy Core (UCF) def. Maria Prishlyak (PSU) 6-4, 6-3
6. Katie Orletsky (UCF) def. Michaela Stracar (PSU) 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
Doubles competition
1. Jenny Frisell/Elvira Serrot (UCF) def. Sarah Lotto/Monika Mical (PSU) 8-6
2. Lauren McCarthy/Denisa Zobeideh (PSU) def. Alexis Rodriguez/Andrea Yacaman (UCF) 8-4
3. Christy Core/Katie Orletsky (UCF) def. Leyla Morzan/Maria Prishlyak (PSU) 9-8 (9-7)
Match Notes:
Penn State 2-10
UCF 8-4
T-3:50
