USF Drops AAC Quarterfinal to No. 1-seeded UCF, 4-1
Lake Nona, Fla., April 23, 2021 – The No. 8-seeded University of South Florida women's tennis team's season came to a close on Friday as the Bulls fell to top-seeded, and No. 8-ranked UCF, 4-1, in the American Athletic Conference Tournament quarterfinals at the USTA National Campus.
The Knights (16-4) got off to a quick start with Valeriya Zeleva and Ksenia Kuznetsova taking court one, 6-1, against
Laura Pellicer (Gandia, Valencia, Spain) and
Grace Eland (Manchester, England). UCF followed that up on court three, 6-3 to clinch the doubles point.
The Knights extended their lead to 3-0, winning the first two singles courts in straight sets. The Bulls (8-15) were able to cut the lead to two with a straight-set victory by
Grace Schumacher (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) over No. 99-ranked Evgeniya Levashova, 6-2, 6-3. Soon after, UCF clinched the win in straight sets on court five to advance to the semifinals.
Despite going unfinished,
Evelyne Tiron (Bucharest, Romania) dropped the first set of her match, 6-0, but rallied back in the second set to force a tiebreaker and had a 3-2 lead when the match was called.
Quotable
Head Coach Cristina Moros on Friday's loss:
"(Today's match) Was definitely not the result we wanted but UCF proved today why they are Top 10 in the country. I felt like we gave them a fight but unfortunately came up short. This season we gained some valuable experience and I know that will pay off for us in the future. We are extremely grateful that we were able to even play this season and thankful to everyone who made it possible.
Grace Schumacher had a great win today and we know that the future is bright for the Bulls."
Match Results:
Singles competition:
1. #30 Rebeka Stolmar (UCF) def.
Laura Pellicer (USF) 6-4, 6-1
2.
Grace Schumacher (USF) def. #99 Evgeniya Levashova (UCF) 6-2, 6-3
3. Ksenia Kuznetsova (UCF) vs.
Evelyne Tiron (USF) 6-0, 6-6 (2-3), unfinished
4. Marie Mattel (UCF) vs.
Alexandria Mjos (USF) 7-6 (7-2), 2-2, unfinished
5. Jaleesa Leslie (UCF) def.
Margriet Timmermans (USF) 6-4, 6-3
6. Nandini Sharma (UCF) def. Lucia Garrigues (USF) 6-2, 6-2
Order of finish: (1,6,2,5)
Doubles competition:
1. Ksenia Kuznetsova/Valeriya Zeleva (UCF) def.
Grace Eland/
Laura Pellicer (USF) 6-1
2. Nadja Bay Christians/Evgeniya Levashova (UCF) vs.
Grace Schumacher/
Margriet Timmermans (USF) 5-4, unfinished
3. Nandini Sharma/Rebeka Stolmar (UCF) def.
Alexandria Mjos/
Evelyne Tiron (USF) 6-3
Order of finish: (1,3)
About Women's Tennis
Be sure to follow USF women's tennis on social media (Twitter / Facebook / Instagram) and visit GoUSFBulls.com for the most up-to-date information.
Head coach Cristina Moros will be in her sixth year at the helm, as she led the program to an American Athletic Conference Championship in 2017.
– #GoBulls –
