Alabama Women’s Tennis Remains Undefeated After Upsetting UCF, 4-3, on the Road

Friday, January 26

Orlando, Fla.

5 p.m.

Alabama

UCF

Alabama Women’s Tennis Remains Undefeated After Upsetting UCF, 4-3, on the Road

1/26/2018 9:23:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score Match Results

Alba Cortina-Pou defeats Silvia Bordes in three sets to propel the Tide past the Knights in the first road contest of the season

ORLANDO, Fla. – After dropping the doubles point, the Alabama women's tennis team battled back into the match, winning four singles matches to upset Central Florida, 4-3, on the road Friday night at the USTA National Campus. The Crimson Tide (5-0) remain undefeated after its comeback victory over its first opponent receiving national votes of the season.

"I'm proud of the way we competed tonight," head coach Jenny Mainz said. "We showed a lot of grit and resiliency bouncing back after losing the doubles point. We had our chances in doubles but could not finish it. The team responded well and played together."

"We knew this was going to be a dogfight and we were prepared to work tonight," Mainz continued. "UCF is a very good team, great competitors and well coached. I felt it was an excellent college match both ways."

The Crimson Tide trailed, 1-0, heading into singles play after UCF (2-1) took the doubles point. Senior Andie Daniell and sophomore Ann Selim handled business on court one, defeating Ksenia Kuznetsova and Maria Martinez, 6-4, but the Knights battled back and won the tiebreakers in both matches on courts two and three to take the one-point advantage.

In singles play, No. 106 Daniell and Selim put Alabama on top, as Daniell topped Kuznetsova at the No. 1 position, 6-4, 6-1, while Selim took care of Natalia Serrano, 6-2, 6-4, at the No. 5 spot for the 2-1 advantage.

However, UCF's Monica Matias tied the match up at two apiece after defeating sophomore Luca Fabian, 7-6(5), 6-2.

On court two, senior Smith Hinton defeated Maria Martinez, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, to put the Tide back into the lead, but UCF's Stolmar topped freshman Kylie Moulin, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, to tie the match back up at 3-3.

With the match on the line, sophomore Alba Cortina-Pou answered the call, rallying back after dropping the first set to win, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, over Silvia Bordes to solidify the win.

In UCF's season opener, the Knights upset then-No. 15 South Carolina, 4-3.

Up next, Alabama will host a pair of matches on Sunday, Jan. 28 against Belmont and UAB at the Roberta Alison Baumgardner Tennis Facility. Sunday's matches will start at 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. CT.

Alabama Match Results:

Alabama 4, UCF 3

Doubles

Daniell/Selim (UA) def. Kuznetsova/Martinez (UCF), 6-4
Matias/Serrano (UCF) def. Fabian/Cortina-Pou (UA), 7-6(10-8)
Bordes/Stomar (UCF) def. Pelletier/Hinton (UA), 7-6(10-6)

Order of Finish: 1, 3, 2

Singles

No. 106 Daniell (UA) def. Kuznetsova (UCF), 6-4, 6-1
Hinton (UA) def. Martinez (UCF), 6-3, 2-6, 6-3
Stolmar (UCF) def. Moulin (UA), 6-7(3-10), 6-4, 6-2
Matias (UCF) def. Fabian (UA), 7-6(10-5), 6-2
Selim (UA) def. Serrano (UCF), 6-2, 6-4
Cortina-Pou (UA) def. Bordes (UCF), 4-6, 7-5, 6-1

Order of Finish: 1, 4, 2, 3, 6

Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaWTN on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaWTN on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.