Carolina DeLuca

DALLAS, TEXAS- Playing its second match in as many days, the UTEP tennis team showed some improvement but ultimately was derailed by Conference USA foe UCF, 7-0, in a neutral-site contest Saturday afternoon.

The Miners (8-12) picked up a doubles triumph courtesy of Ximena Fuentes/Carolina DeLuca downing the Knights’ (10-5) Christy Core/Allison Hodges, 8-6. The team point went the way of UCF, however, after it took care of business at No. 1 and No. 3 doubles.

Dariya Abrakhmanova/Alexandra Glebova squared off against Jenny Frisell/Alexis Rodridguez at the top slot and never found their groove. The Miners’ duo was stricken with an 8-1 setback.

Marina DeLuca/Austin Lavallii played well in spurts but never put it all together, leading to UCF’s Taylor Dubins/Andrea Yacaman posting an 8-4 triumph at No. 3.

After a short break all of the attention went to singles play where UTEP would need to secure four triumphs in order to secure a come-from-behind win.

The Miners played hard but the results did not go as intentioned. Glebova battled Jenna Doerfler point for point at No. 4 singles in a thrilling three-set tilt. The first set went the way of the UCF player, 7-6 (8-6), but Glebova struck back with a tiebreaker triumph of her own in the second by the same score. A super breaker was utilized in lieu of the third set, and the Knights’ player held on for the win (10-7).

Veronika Makashov challenged Dubins at No. 6 singles, and she was right with her early on. The opening set was close throughout only to have Dubins emerge victorious, 6-4. Makashov never got on track in the second set and fell by a final count of 6-1.

Carolina DeLuca was saddled with a similar fate in the match vs. Rodriguez at No. 2 singles. She was held off in the first set, 7-5, and then doubled up (6-3) in the clincher. Her elder sister, Marina DeLuca, ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Yacaman at No. 3 singles. The Miners’ lone senior came up shy by a final score of 6-2, 6-2.

Abdrakhmanova was unable to decode the play of Frisell at No. 1 singles. She played hard and competed until the final point only to fall 6-1, 6-1.

Fuentes was on the wrong end of a match as well. She challenged Hodges at No. 5 singles and was sent packing by a final count of 6-2, 6-1.

UTEP will be back in action when it travels to New Orleans to take on Tulane in a 2 p.m. MDT match on April 9.