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Women's Tennis Opens February at Home vs. No. 44 USF

Jan. 31, 2006

ORLANDO - The UCF women's tennis team hosts No. 44 USF at the UCF Tennis Complex on Wednesday at 2 p.m., marking the second consecutive match that the Golden Knights have faced a nationally-ranked team.

After opening the season at home with a solid 7-0 sweep of Georgia Southern on Jan. 21, UCF evened its record to 1-1 with a loss at No. 2 Florida four days later. The Golden Knights will be tinkering with the lineup due to a minor injury suffered by freshman Elvira Serrot, who has competed at No. 2 singles in the previous two outings. Sophomore Anna Yakimchenkova moves into Serrot's position, while classmate Jennifer Carati jumps to No. 3. Sophomore Kyla McNicol enters the singles lineup in the No. 6 spot.

Although freshman Kenza Belbacha is slated for her normal No. 4 singles position, the duo of Carati and junior Becky Gordon will take over for the Belbacha/Serrot tandem at No. 3 doubles.

Under the guidance of first-year head coach Augustin Moreno, the Bulls defeated Stetson, 6-1, in the season opener on Jan. 28. They boast the nation's No. 5 ranked doubles team in juniors Gabriella Duch and Neyssa Etienne and also have a top 100-ranked singles player in freshman Liz Cruz in their lineup.

"USF is a good team and we will have to play our best tennis to come out on top," said UCF head coach Patricia Allison.

USF owns a 9-3 advantage over the Golden Knights in the 12 previous meetings.