ORLANDO- The Wichita State men's tennis team fell to No. 28 UCF, 4-0, Saturday in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Championship at the USTA National Campus.
 
The Shockers (16-10) dropped a close doubles point and suffered losses on courts three, five and six to No. 28 UCF.
 
DOUBLES
The doubles courts came down to the wire and were exciting from start to finish. After UCF's Juan Pablo Grassi Mazzuchi and Gabriel Decamps grabbed a 6-1 in over Andrea Caligiana and Orel Ovil in the second slot, courts one and three were decided in tiebreakers. The American Conference's top two doubles teams battled in the top slot, with both teams trading games throughout to force a tiebreaker. Murkel Dellien and Marius Frosa, who rank No. 25, fell behind 3-1 early in the tiebreaker before rallying to tie it at three. No. 18-ranked Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel came out victorious (7-5) to give the Knights the point. Haru Inoue and Stefan Latinovic held a 5-3 advantage in the tiebreaker over Alan Rubio and Manoel Alencar before play was suspended.
 
SINGLES
The Knights fed off the doubles point in singles action, taking wins on courts three, five and six. Mikhail Sokolovskiy put UCF up 2-0 with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Latinovic in the sixth flight. Grassi Mazzuchi followed with a win on court five, defeating Ovil in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. On court three, Frosa took on UCF's Pavel in what was a tight finish. After dropping the first set (6-3), Frosa trailed 4-3 with Pavel up a break. Frosa got ahead early in the game, but Pavel stormed off Frosa's rally and took the final two games to clinch the match.
 
Senior Eddie Stoica battled Hilderbrand in the fourth position. Stoica dropped a close first set (7-5) and held a 5-4 lead in the second set before play was suspended. Inoue jumped out on No. 35 Decamps in the first set (6-4) and trailed 4-2 in the second, while Dellien dropped a marathon first set to Rubio in the second position (7-6(7)) before going unfinished.
 
The Shockers end the season with a 16-10 record, and reached as high as No. 39 in the ITA/Oracle Team Rankings. Juniors Murkel Dellien and Marius Frosa achieved the highest ranking for a doubles pair (No. 25) since the 2015-16 season.
 

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#28 UCF 4, Wichita State 0
 
Singles Results
1. Haru Inoue (WSU) vs. #35 Gabriel Decamps (UCF) 6-4, 2-4, uf.
2. Murkel Dellien (WSU) vs. Alan Rubio (UCF) , 6-7 (7), 0-1, uf.
3. Bogdan Pavel (UCF) def. Marius Frosa (WS) 6-3, 6-3
4. Eddie Stoica (WSU) vs. Trey Hilderbrand (UCF) 5-7, 5-4, uf.
5. J. Grassi Mazzuchi (UCF) def. Orel Ovil (WSU) 6-3, 6-1
6. Mikhail Sokolovskiy (UCF) def. Stefan Latinovic (WSU) 6-1, 6-3
 
Doubles Results
1. #18 Trey Hilderbrand/Bogdan Pavel (UCF) def. #25 Murkel Dellien/Marius Frosa (WSU) 7-6 (7-5)
2. Gabriel Decamps/J. Grassi Mazzuchi (UCF) def. Orel Ovil/Andrea Caligiana (WSU) 6-1
3. Stefan Latinovic/Haru Inoue (WSU) vs. Alan Rubio/Manoel Alencar (UCF) 6-6 (5-3), uf.
 
Match Notes:
Wichita State 15-10
UCF 15-9; National ranking #28
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (6,3)