Feb. 10, 2006
ORLANDO - The UCF women's tennis team travels to Tallahassee this weekend to take on in-state rivals Florida State and Florida A&M. The Golden Knights take on the No. 54-ranked Seminoles at 11 a.m. Saturday before meeting FAMU at 10 a.m. Sunday.
The squad is coming off a 5-1 win over North Florida on Feb. 7. The victory evened the Golden Knights record at 2-2, which includes hard-fought matches against No. 2 Florida and No. 44 USF. Because it is still early in the season, head coach Patricia Allison continues to tinker with the lineup.
Among the most successful players has been junior Megan Hunter. After splitting her first two matches at the No. 6 singles position, she has recorded two consecutive wins at No. 5, including an impressive 1-6, 6-3 (10-6) defeat of USF's Iciri Rai on Feb. 1.
Also performing well are sophomore Anna Yakimchenkova and freshman Elvira Serrot. Yakimchenkova has posted a 2-1 record at No. 3, while Serrot has gone 2-1 at No. 2. Coming off an injury that limited her court time during the fall, sophomore Kyla McNicol has also played well emerging victorious in the past two matches at the team's No. 6 position.
Most of the lineup changes have occurred in doubles, but the new duos did not have the opportunity to be tested against UNF on Tuesday because inclement weather caused play to be shortened.
With a perfect 3-0 mark entering the weekend, FSU will present a challenge to the Golden Knights. Hunter and junior Becky Gordon met Seminoles in their "B" singles draw at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southern Regional last fall, losing both matches.
FSU junior Carolin Walter is currently ranked No. 18 in the nation and the Seminoles are 5-1 in doubles competition.
Meanwhile, FAMU fell to 0-4 on the season after losing to crosstown rival FSU, 5-0, on Feb. 5.
Florida State holds a 5-0 edge in the all-time series against UCF, while the Golden Knights have not lost to the Rattlerettes in any of the nine previous meetings.