BOX SCORE

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The eighth-ranked UWF men's tennis team erased a 3-1 deficit and came from a set down for the final two points to defeat fifth-ranked Valdosta State, 5-4, in the First Round of the 2018 NCAA Division II Men's Tennis South I Regional at the Buccaneer Tennis Center Monday.
 
UWF fell behind 2-1 after doubles and lost the first singles match completed for the deficit.
 
Juan Cabrera, who dropped his first match of the season in last Saturday's GSC title match with VSU, got the better of Francisco Yim Kim, 6-4, 6-2, at No. 4 singles. The Blazers' Xavier Pineda defeated Robin Rafaitin 7-6, 6-0, at the fifth spot to put VSU back up by two, 4-2.
 
At No. 6, Juan Motta trailed 5-3 in the first set before winning three-consecutive games before taking the set in a tiebreaker. He closed out the third point with a dominating 6-1 second set outcome.
 
Then the fireworks came out for the Argonauts.
 
After dropping the first set on each of the first two courts, UWF's Nicolas Lecoutre at No. 1 and Serdar Bojadjiev at No. 2 gutted-out big second set wins.
 
Lecoutre got up 3-0 before falling behind 6-5 to fourth-ranked Jordi Mas. But a win in game 12 and a 9-7 tiebreak forced a third set. Lecoutre got up 5-1 and cruised to the 6-2 win that knotted the match at 4-4.
 
Bojadjiev had dropped a first-set tiebreak but went into another gear midway through the second frame. Trailing 4-2, he won the final four games for a 6-4 win before taking the final five of the third set for a 6-1 victory as he was mobbed by his teammates following an ace on the match's clinching point.
 
"It came down to a pair of great third sets by Nicolas and Serdar for us," UWF head coach Derrick Racine said. "These are two very equal teams and you can't count on any wins throughout the lineups. Last week they won at one and two singles and this week we were able to win those matches."
 
Fifth-seeded UWF (24-3) will meet top-ranked Barry (21-2) in the regional final on Tuesday morning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The winner will advance to the NCAA Round of 16.