HOUSTON, Texas (UCFAthletics.com) – On Friday, the No. 7 UCF women’s tennis team dropped its quarterfinal match at the Conference USA Championship against No. 2 Tulsa, 4-0, at Jake Hess Tennis Stadium. The Knights finished the year 12-10 marking the 18th-consecutive season that UCF collected double-digit victories.
UCF cruised past Tulane in the tournament’s first round Thursday by a score of 4-0 and advanced to play Tulsa (22-4). The Golden Hurricane entered championship week ranked No. 38 nationally, and marched out to an early 1-0 lead after doubles play. At No. 2, Jie Zeng and Anastasia Erofeeva got past freshmen Alexis Rodriguez (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Andrea Yacaman (Cartagena, Columbia), 8-5, while Rebecca Row and Alexandra Kichoutkin rallied to beat freshman Christy Core (Charlotte, N.C.) and junior Katie Orletsky (Titusville, Fla.), 8-6, after the Knights held a 6-5 advantage at No. 3.
The Knights had the lead at the No. 1 position as sophomore Jenny Frisell (Gothenburg, Sweden) and senior Elvira Serrot (Madrid, Spain) pulled ahead 7-6 against Thalia Diaz-Barriga and Marta Marcinkowska. The match did not finish since the Golden Hurricane claimed the doubles point.
Singles proved to be extremely close and the matches at Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 6 were up for grabs. Tulsa managed to jump out to a 3-0 lead before the remainder of the match was finished in the indoor facility at the Galleria Athletics & Tennis Club due to inclement weather in the Houston area.
The Knights continued to fight back as Frisell pushed her No. 1 match to a third set after recording a 6-2 victory in the second against Kitchoutkin. Serrot at No. 2 battled to a six-all tie in her second set, but Tulsa’s Ewa Szatkowska ended the UCF rally by putting away Orletsky, 6-4, 7-5, providing the Golden Hurricane with a 4-0 win.
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Tennis Match Results
UCF vs Tulsa
4/17/2009 at Houston, Texas
#38 Tulsa 4, UCF 0
Singles competition
1. Alexandra Kichoutkin (TLS) vs. Jenny Frisell (UCF) 6-3, 2-6, 4-4, unfinished
2. Jie Zeng (TLS) vs. Elvira Serrot (UCF) 6-3, 6-6, unfinished
3. Thalia Diaz-Barriga (TLS) vs. Andrea Yacaman (UCF) 7-5, 4-4, unfinished
4. Anastasia Erofeeva (TLS) def. Alexis Rodriguez (UCF) 6-2, 6-4
5. Rebecca Row (TLS) def. Christy Core (UCF) 6-2, 6-1
6. Ewa Szatkowska (TLS) def. Katie Orletsky (UCF) 6-4, 7-5
Doubles competition
1. Thalia Diaz-Barriga/Marta Marcinkowska (TLS) vs. #55 Jenny Frisell/Elvira Serrot (UCF) 6-7, unfinished
2. Jie Zeng/Anastasia Erofeeva (TLS) def. Alexis Rodriguez/Andrea Yacaman (UCF) 8-5
3. Rebecca Row/Alexandra Kichoutkin (TLS) def. Christy Core/Katie Orletsky (UCF) 8-6
Match Notes:
UCF 11-10
Tulsa 22-4; National ranking #38
Order of finish: Doubles (2,3); Singles (5,4)
Quarterfinals of the 14th C-USA Women's Tennis Championships
No. 2 Tulsa downs No. 7 UCF to advance to the Semifinals
