Bulls Bow to UCF Golden Knights, 5-2

Andreea Novaceanu

ORLANDO, FL – In a match that lasted more than five hours, the University at Buffalo’s women’s tennis team fell to homestanding UCF, 5-2, to conclude the Bulls’ spring break contests in Florida. The loss snapped UB’s five-match winning streak and dropped the Bulls to 8-2 overall.

UB claimed one of the three doubles matches but was unable to take the opening point. UB’s victory came at the number two slot as Andreea Novaceanu (Bucharest, Romania/Emil Racovita) and Tina Jacob (Singapore/Raffles JC) easily downed Jennifer Carati and Becky Gordon by an 8-1 decision. UCF took the point from the Bulls with victories at first and third doubles. In the number one match, UB’s Kristen Ortman (Amherst, NY/Amherst) and Natalie Dean (Feilding, New Zealand/Palmerston North) were defeated by Pamela Fernandez and Elvira Serrot, 8-5. In the number three match, the UB duo of Miglena Nenova (Rousse, Bulgaria/Eurointellect) and Smaranda Stan (Stantu Gheorghe, Romania/Economic) fell to Kenza Belbacha and Anna Yakimchenkova by an 8-4 score.

The Bulls pulled out two singles victories with Novaceanu and Stan earning the wins. Novaceanu defeated Belbacha in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, at number three while Stan picked up a default victory as Carati, her UCF opponent, retired after the sixth game of the third set. Stan led the match 2-6, 6-3, 4-2 when Carati was forced to retire.

Two other matches were stretched to third sets with UB coming up short in both contests. Dean, at number four, played three full sets against Yakimchenkova, winning the opening set by a 7-5 count. However, Dean was unable to take another set with Yakimchenkova rallying for 6-0 and 6-2 wins in the final two sets. Ortman, playing at number two, forced a ten-game super-tiebreaker against Serrot. Ortman had won the second set, 7-5, after Serrot took the opening set, 6-4, to move into the super-tiebreaker, won by Serrot, 10-7.

Nenova, at number one, and Jacob, at number six, were defeated in straight sets. Nenova fell to Fernandez, 6-0, 6-3 while Jacob dropped a 6-3, 6-1 decision to Gordon.

The Bulls return north after completing their non-conference slate. Mid-American Conference play begins on Friday, March 24 as UB travels to face MAC powerhouse Western Michigan in Kalamazoo. The Bulls will then complete the weekend with a visit to Bowling Green on the following afternoon. Both matches are 1:00 pm starts.

1 Pamela Fernandez/Elvira Serrot (UCF) d. Kristen Ortman/Natalie Dean (UB), 8-5

2 Andreea Novaceanu/Tina Jacob (UB) d. Jennifer Carati/Becky Gordon (UCF), 8-1

3 Kenza Belbacha/Anna Yakimchenkova (UCF) d. Miglena Nenova/Smaranda Stan (UB), 8-4

1 Pamela Fernandez (UCF) d. Miglena Nenova (UB), 6-0, 6-3

2 Elvira Serrot (UCF) d. Kristen Ortman (UB), 6-4, 5-7, 1-0 (10-7)

3 Andreea Novaceanu (UB) d. Kenza Belbacha (UCF), 6-3, 6-3

4 Anna Yakimchenkova (UCF) d. Natalie Dean (UB), 5-7, 6-0, 6-2

5 Smaranda Stan (UB) d. Jennifer Carati (UCF). 2-6, 6-3, 4-2 ret.

6 Becky Gordon (UCF) d. Tina Jacob (UB), 6-3, 6-1