ORLANDO, Fla. - The FIU women's tennis team fought back from a 3-0 singles deficit to come within one poing of tying the match, though, the Panthers came up short to No. 21 UCF, 4-2, at the USTA National Campus on Tuesday evening. Freshmen Katerina Mandelikova and Oyinlomo Quadre delivered FIU's two comeback wins late in singles, as the loss drops FIU to 3-2 overall. 

FIU's Yasmine Kabbaj and Oyinlomo Quadre picked up a win at the No. 2 position, though, losses would come for the Panthers at the No. 1 and No. 3 spot to see the Knights take the early advantage. 

Salma Loudili and Katerina Mandelikova fell, 1-6, to UCF's Sophia Bolay and Nandini Sharp prior to Kabbaj and Quadre earning a 6-2 win over Jantji Tilbuerger and Stefani Webb. 44th-ranked Kamila Umarova and Ekaterina Khairutdinova would slip at the top spot, 4-6, to Marie Mattel and Noel Saidenova to hand the Knights the 1-0 advantage. 

UCF jumped out to a 3-0 margin after Kabbaj fell in No. 1 singles ot No. 48 Mattel, 1-6, 6-7 (5), and Umarova slipped in three sets at No. 3 singles to Webb, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6. 

Mandelikova kept FIU alive at the No. 5 spot with a 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, defeat over UCF's Sophia Bolay, while classmate Oyinlomo Quadre came back in a three-set to ring in another win for the Panthers on the No. 4 court, 2-6, 6-2, 6-4, over UCF's Saidenova for a 3-2 differential. 

With both Ekaterina Khairutdinova and Salma Loudili left competing, Loudili would unfortunately come up short down the stretch in three sets in No. 6 singles, 2-6, 7-5, 4-6, to UCF's Nandini Sharma to conclude the match at 4-2 as No. 2 singles would go unfinished.

UP NEXT
FIU remains in Orlando, Fla., for a neutral-site matchup against Air Force on Thursday, Feb. 16. First serve is slated for an 11 a.m. start.

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