Upcoming Event: Women's Tennis at Colorado State Invite on September 12, 2025
Women's Tennis
at Colorado State Invite
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Saturday, January 25
Ann Arbor, MI
12:00 PM
University of Utah
3
vs
4
UCF
Photo by: Albert Manduca
Tattini and Hekking Down Nation's Third-Ranked Duo in Heartbreaking 4-3 Loss to #12 UCF
1/25/2020 3:44 PM | Women's Tennis
Battle between Utah and UCF comes down to the wire on Saturday.
ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Utah women's tennis team was faced with a tough task on Saturday, opening the ITA Kickoff Weekend with a match against the No. 12-ranked team in the nation, Central Florida. In a match that came down to the wire, Utah dropped a heartbreaker against UCF, 3-4, at Michigan's Varsity Tennis Courts.Â
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"I'm so incredibly proud of this team and their fight," said head coach Ric Mortera. "We put ourselves in a great position to challenge a tough UCF team. We are going to continue to learn from these experiences and keep focusing on improving."
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In doubles action, Utah fell behind 0-1 after UCF took the win on court three to begin the day. Utah's top duo and nation's No. 24-ranked duo of Whitney Hekking and Madison Tattini battled against the No. 3 doubles team in the nation, Rebeka Stolmar and Marie Mattel. Tattini and Hekking earned a huge win for Utah, upsetting  Stolmar and Mattel with a score of 6-3 on the No. 1 court. Tattini and Hekking's win against the No. 3 doubles team in the nation is the highest ranked doubles victory for a Utah duo since at least the 1989 season. The win was the second top-10 doubles victory by a Utah doubles team since 1995 and the eighth overall since 1989.
Needing one more win in doubles to earn the point, Madeline Lamoreaux and Emily Dush then wrapped things up at the No. 2 position, knocking off another talented doubles team from UCF, Valeriya Zeleva and Nadja Bay Christians, 6-4 to take the 1-0 lead over the Knights heading into singles.
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After dropping matches on courts two and four to start off singles, Anya Lamoreaux chipped in a win at the No. 6 spot to tie things back up at 2-2. Lamoreaux beat out Calentina Martin with a score of 6-1, 6-0. Dush shortly followed with another straight-set win on the No. 5 court, as she came away with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Sara Culbertson to give the Utes the 3-2 lead. With a loss on the No. 1 court by Utah, UCF was then able to tie things up 3-3 with the match coming down to court three.Â
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At the No. 3 spot, Hekking was matched up against No. 54-ranked Marie Mattel. Hekking took the first set 7-5 to gain the early advantage in the match, but Mattel followed with a win in another tight set, 6-4. Hekking found herself trailing quickly in the third set, 0-3, with all sets going back-and-forth but unable to pull ahead. Hekking then batted back and won the next two sets to cut the lead in the third set to just 2-3, but Mattel ultimately gained momentum and finished things off 6-2, to give the Knights the 4-3 win.
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Utah women's tennis will be back in action tomorrow morning to wrap up their trip at the ITA Kickoff Weekend with a match against the Ole Miss Rebels at 8 a.m. MT. Live scoring and video for the ITA Kickoff Weekend is available here, along with a recap of the day's action being available on UtahUtes.com following the conclusion of play.
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#12 UCF 4, Utah 3
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Doubles (3,1,2)
#24 Hekking/Tattini (UU) def. #3 Stolmar/Mattel (UCF), 6-3
M. Lamoreaux/Dush (UU) def. Zeleva/Bay Christians (UCF), 6-4
Levashova/Turlovic (UCF) def. A. Lamoreaux/Hersh (UU), 6-2
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Singles (2,4,6,5,1,3)
Evgeniya Levashova (UCF) def. Madison Tattini (UU) 6-3, 6-0
Valeriya Zeleva (UCF) def. Madeline Lamoreaux (UU), 6-1, 6-4
#54 Marie Mattel (UCF) def. Whitney Hekking (UU), 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
Domenika Turkovic (UCF) def. Lindsay Hung (UU), 6-1, 6-2
Emily Dush (UU) def. Sara Culbertson (UCF), 6-1, 6-4
Anya Lamoreaux (UU) def. Calentina Martin (UCF), 6-1, 6-0
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"I'm so incredibly proud of this team and their fight," said head coach Ric Mortera. "We put ourselves in a great position to challenge a tough UCF team. We are going to continue to learn from these experiences and keep focusing on improving."
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In doubles action, Utah fell behind 0-1 after UCF took the win on court three to begin the day. Utah's top duo and nation's No. 24-ranked duo of Whitney Hekking and Madison Tattini battled against the No. 3 doubles team in the nation, Rebeka Stolmar and Marie Mattel. Tattini and Hekking earned a huge win for Utah, upsetting  Stolmar and Mattel with a score of 6-3 on the No. 1 court. Tattini and Hekking's win against the No. 3 doubles team in the nation is the highest ranked doubles victory for a Utah duo since at least the 1989 season. The win was the second top-10 doubles victory by a Utah doubles team since 1995 and the eighth overall since 1989.
Needing one more win in doubles to earn the point, Madeline Lamoreaux and Emily Dush then wrapped things up at the No. 2 position, knocking off another talented doubles team from UCF, Valeriya Zeleva and Nadja Bay Christians, 6-4 to take the 1-0 lead over the Knights heading into singles.
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After dropping matches on courts two and four to start off singles, Anya Lamoreaux chipped in a win at the No. 6 spot to tie things back up at 2-2. Lamoreaux beat out Calentina Martin with a score of 6-1, 6-0. Dush shortly followed with another straight-set win on the No. 5 court, as she came away with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Sara Culbertson to give the Utes the 3-2 lead. With a loss on the No. 1 court by Utah, UCF was then able to tie things up 3-3 with the match coming down to court three.Â
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At the No. 3 spot, Hekking was matched up against No. 54-ranked Marie Mattel. Hekking took the first set 7-5 to gain the early advantage in the match, but Mattel followed with a win in another tight set, 6-4. Hekking found herself trailing quickly in the third set, 0-3, with all sets going back-and-forth but unable to pull ahead. Hekking then batted back and won the next two sets to cut the lead in the third set to just 2-3, but Mattel ultimately gained momentum and finished things off 6-2, to give the Knights the 4-3 win.
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Utah women's tennis will be back in action tomorrow morning to wrap up their trip at the ITA Kickoff Weekend with a match against the Ole Miss Rebels at 8 a.m. MT. Live scoring and video for the ITA Kickoff Weekend is available here, along with a recap of the day's action being available on UtahUtes.com following the conclusion of play.
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#12 UCF 4, Utah 3
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Doubles (3,1,2)
#24 Hekking/Tattini (UU) def. #3 Stolmar/Mattel (UCF), 6-3
M. Lamoreaux/Dush (UU) def. Zeleva/Bay Christians (UCF), 6-4
Levashova/Turlovic (UCF) def. A. Lamoreaux/Hersh (UU), 6-2
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Singles (2,4,6,5,1,3)
Evgeniya Levashova (UCF) def. Madison Tattini (UU) 6-3, 6-0
Valeriya Zeleva (UCF) def. Madeline Lamoreaux (UU), 6-1, 6-4
#54 Marie Mattel (UCF) def. Whitney Hekking (UU), 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
Domenika Turkovic (UCF) def. Lindsay Hung (UU), 6-1, 6-2
Emily Dush (UU) def. Sara Culbertson (UCF), 6-1, 6-4
Anya Lamoreaux (UU) def. Calentina Martin (UCF), 6-1, 6-0
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Players Mentioned
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