ORLANDO, Fla., April 9, 2021 – The University of South Florida women's tennis team fell in the War on I-4, 7-0, to No. 18 UCF on Friday at the UTSA National Campus.
 
The Knights (13-4) got off to a quick start with the duo of No. 75-ranked Valeriya Zeleva and Ksenia Kuznetsova taking court one, 6-0, against Grace Schumacher (Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia) and Alex Mjos (Austin, Texas), followed by a UCF victory on court two over Laura Pellicer (Gandia, Valencia, Spain) and Margriet Timmermans (Bergen Op Zoom, Netherlands), 6-2.
 
UCF clinched the match after winning the next five singles courts in straight sets. The Bulls (7-13), however, had strong singles play throughout the match.
 
Despite losing in straight sets, 7-6, 7-6, Pellicer took each set to tiebreakers against the Knights' 25^th -ranked singles player, Zeleva. After dropping the first set, 6-3, Timmermans fought back to take the second set, 6-4 but eventually lost in the third, 6-2.
 
Quotable
Head Coach Cristina Moros on Friday's loss:
"We need to find a way to start better in doubles. We can't put ourselves in such a hole at the start. We earned some opportunities in certain spots but failed to convert them which changed the course of singles. UCF is a team that will make you pay for that and credit to them for staying on top of us through the end."
 
Match Results:
Singles competition:
1. #25 Valeriya Zeleva (UCF) def. Laura Pellicer (USF) 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4)
2. #38 Rebeka Stolmar (UCF) def. Grace Schumacher (USF) 7-5, 6-1
3. #85 Evgeniya Levashova (UCF) def. Evelyne Tiron (USF) 6-2, 7-5
4. Ksenia Kuznetsova (UCF) def. Alexandria Mjos (USF) 6-3, 6-2
5. Jaleesa Leslie (UCF) def. Margriet Timmermans (USF) 6-3, 4-6, 6-2
6. Nandini Sharma (UCF) def. Lucia Garrigues (USF) 6-1, 6-4
Order of finish: (4,6,2,1,3,5)
 
Doubles competition:
1. #75 Valeriya Zeleva/Ksenia Kuznetsova (UCF) def. Alexandria Mjos/Grace Schumacher (USF) 6-0
2. Evgeniya Levashova/Nadja Bay Christians (UCF) def. Laura Pellicer/Margriet Timmermans (USF) 6-2
3. Rebeka Stolmar/Nandini Sharma (UCF) vs. Grace Eland/Evelyne Tiron (USF) 5-3, unfinished
Order of finish: (1,2)
 
Up Next:
South Florida returns home to the USF Varsity Tennis Courts to honor its seniors and play the final match of the regular season against No. 45 Tulsa on Saturday, April 17 at noon.
 
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.