WACO, Texas - After stringing together impressive results to close out the Big 12 regular season, the UCF men’s tennis team returns to Waco this weekend to begin its 2025 Big 12 Championship campaign. A Friday tilt against Utah in the quarterfinals, the second duel between the two this season, is set to start at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT.
The Knights enter the tournament holding the number four spot in the Big 12 standings with a conference record of 5-3. Eager to make it past the first round for the first time in program history, they will enter this tie with confidence, having already beaten Utah on the road not even a month ago.
LAST TIME OUT
UCF closed out the regular season with three straight wins, breaking the sporadic run of form they held throughout conference play. The first of which came in a dramatic 4-3 comeback against Oklahoma State after originally being down 3-1. New heroes came to the rescue for the Knights after giving up the doubles point to the Cowboys. Emilio Sanchez got the Knights over the finish line with a straight-set triumph in what was only his Big 12 win of the season.
The squad kept their momentum going into their next match of the weekend against Texas Tech, taking the doubles point. The Red Raiders never found an answer for the Knights heading into singles play, eventually getting swept on their home court, 4-0. With the match in his hands, Santiago Giamichelle was put to the test by Ludovico Vaccari on court four. He prevailed in the third set after trading wins in the first two sets, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6, claiming UCF’s fifth conference win of the season and pushing their win streak to three matches.
First hits at the @Big12Conference championship ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/gllT7c9pLl
— UCF Men's Tennis (@UCF_MTennis) April 17, 2025
QUICK HITS
- History awaits UCF as it embarks on its second Big 12 Championship. If they can claim a second win of the season against fifth seed Utah, they would advance to the semifinals to face the winner of first seed TCU and either ninth seed BYU or eighth seed Oklahoma State.
- Doubles partners Yassine Dlimi and Emilio Sanchez registered a vital win together on court one against Texas Tech. Although the pairing had trouble securing their court in conference play, their performance against the Red Raiders could prove to be just the momentum they needed to stay in the win column as they head into the Big 12 Championship.
- A fresh pairing seems to be working in favor of the Knights, as Colin and Oliveira are now 2-2 in doubles play in their last four matches together for the Knights. Their first win together came against No. 16 Baylor, and they were able to bounce back this weekend against Texas Tech after dropping their court against Oklahoma State. They're success together in only a few matches could be the edge the Knights need to make a deep run in this year's Big 12 Championship.
Keeping the pace ahead of the @Big12Conference Championship 🤝 pic.twitter.com/FgYiiEXTyY
— UCF Men's Tennis (@UCF_MTennis) April 15, 2025
THE OPPONENT
Still in their debut Big 12 season, the Utes will be just as hungry as the Knights to make a statement in the conference. Utah heads into the Big 12 Championship ranked No. 48 in the latest ITA rankings, jumping up five positions after a dominating win against in-state rivals BYU, 4-2.
Their last meeting with the Knights didn’t go as well for them, falling 4-1 at home just a few weeks ago. The Knights will have their shot at redemption in doubles play after giving up the early lead in Salt Lake City. Just like the Black and Gold, Utah currently has a ranked pair of their thanks to Reid Jarvis and Dante Carlos Teramo, who sit in 75th behind UCF’s Liam Branger and Paul Colin in 56th.