Feb. 21, 2005
ORLANDO - The UCF women's tennis team hosts Atlantic Sun rival Jacksonville on Tuesday at 2 p.m. on the UCF Tennis Complex courts. It marks the fifth match in eight days for the Golden Knights (2-6, 1-0 A-Sun).
The Knights began their ironman schedule on Feb. 15 as they earned their first victory of the season over Morgan State. Since then, UCF has been on the road. The team visited No. 55 USF on Wednesday, losing 5-2, before traveling to Florida Atlantic and No. 10 Miami over the weekend. The Golden Knights edged the Lady Owls, 4-3, in their first conference test of the season then dropped a 7-0 decision to the Hurricanes.
Now, UCF faces another formidable conference opponent in JU (5-2, 0-1 A-Sun). "This is a very important match for us," said Patricia Allison, who is in her sixth year at the helm of the Knights' program. "We haven't had a lot of rest and JU is a very good team."
The Dolphins top player is sophomore and reigning conference player of the year Emese Suylos. Until her loss to FAU's Alena Dvorakova on Feb. 17, she had a perfect 21-0 record at No. 1 singles and had earned the A-Sun Player of the Week honor.
Allison has recently been playing her own game of musical chairs with the Knights' lineup. Both freshmen Anna Yakimchenkova and Kyla McNicol competed at Miami, while junior co-captain Pamela Fernandez and senior co-captain Kristina Lohmos have been trading back-and-forth at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Allison has also been shuffling the doubles tandems, hoping to find duos that click.
No matter who is out on the court for the Black and Gold, Allison knows that it will be a battle despite the fact that UCF has only fallen to JU once in 22 meetings. "It is going to be a true dog fight, but I expect we will play with a lot of heart."
Admission to the match is free.