Alabama Falls To UCF In First Round Of NCAA Tournament

Friday, May 6

Miami, Fla.

9 a.m. CT

Alabama

UCF

Alabama Falls To UCF In First Round Of NCAA Tournament

5/6/2022 1:33:00 PM | Women's Tennis

Box Score

The Crimson Tide fell 4-0 to the Knights to conclude the team’s 2021-22 season

Coral Gables, Fla. –– The Alabama women's tennis team (15-12) concluded its season Friday, falling to No. 21 UCF (16-7) in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament at Miami's Neil Schiff Tennis Center.

Alabama battled UCF in doubles play as Ola Pitak and Kasia Pitak cliched the first victory of the day with a win on court three. Although UCF would go on to win courts one and two, UA traded points with the Knights on both courts and forced a tiebreaker on court two.

In singles, four courts went into a third set with Loudmilla Bencheikh and Petra Sedlackova putting up a contested battle on courts one and two, respectively. Anne Marie Hiser came back to take the second set and force a third set on court five as Ola Pitak's second set-tiebreaker on court three also earned her a third set.

Head Coach Jenny Mainz

"Congratulations to UCF on a great win today. We're proud of our team and the tremendous effort we showed against a tough UCF team. We had chances to win the doubles point but lost it in a tight tiebreaker. We got off to a slow start in singles dropping five first sets but fought back to split in four out of six singles matches. The score is not at all indicative of the hard-fought match and the come-from-behind push. We ran out of time. Our team showed a lot of grit, determination and resiliency today and all season. We have a lot to build on as we have a very young team that's eager to improve.

"We demonstrated a lot of growth and advancement through the course of the season. We worked hard to become a team and learned to play together as a team. The maturity and progress are promising and we're looking forward to next season."

The Match

Ola Pitak and Kasia Pitak led the Crimson Tide in doubles as the duo battled their way out of a 5-5 tie to take the next two games and win the first match of the day, going 7-5 against Jaleesa Leslie and Noel Saidenova on court three
The Knights edged Alabama on court one to even the hunt for the doubles point
Anne Marie Hiser and Loudmilla Bencheikh fought their way into a tiebreaker on court two, but UCF emerged with a 7-2 tiebreak score for the first point in the team competition
UCF recorded back-to-back wins on courts four and six, respectively, to jump out to a 3-0 lead
Alabama forced a third set on the remaining four courts, but the Knights clinched the match with a three-set win on court five
Bencheikh rallied to take the second set on court one and force a third set against Evgeniya Levanshova, finishing 4-6, 6-4, 1-1, while Petra Sedlackova concluded with a 6-4, 1-6, 2-3 score on court two against Noel Saidenova
Ola Pitak battled her way back after a first set loss to win a second-set tiebreaker against No. 121 Marie Mattel on court three and was about to start a third set when the match was clinched

Results

Doubles:

#48 Evgeniya Levashova/Marie Mattel (UCF) def. #52 Petra Sedlackova/Anna Parkhomenko (UA) 6-4
Nandini Sharma/Sophia Biolay (UCF) def. Loudmilla Bencheikh/Anne Marie Hiser (UA) 7-6 (2)
Ola Pitak/Kasia Pitak (UA) def. Jaleesa Leslie/Noel Saidenova (UCF) 7-5

Order of Finish (3,1,2)

Singles:

#66 Loudmilla Bencheikh (UA) vs. Evgeniya Levanshova (UCF) 4-6, 6-4, 1-1, unfinished
#68 Petra Sedlackova (UA) vs. Noel Saidenova (UCF) 6-4, 1-6, 2-3, unfinished
Ola Pitak (UA) vs. #121 Marie Mattel (UCF) 3-6, 7-6 (2), unfinished
Jaleesa Leslie (UCF) def. Anna Parkhomenko (UA) 6-3, 6-1
Nadini Sharma (UCF) def. Anne Marie Hiser (UA) 6-2, 4-6, 6-2
Sophia Biolay (UCF) def. Kasia Pitak (UA) 6-0, 6-4

Order of Finish (4,6,5)

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