April 14, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - With the regular season complete, the UCF women's tennis team will travel to Houston for the 2009 Conference USA Championship hosted by Rice Thursday-Sunday. The Knights, which drew the No. 7 seed, begin play at 3 p.m. ET against No. 10 Tulane. All matches will be played at the Jake Hess Tennis Stadium.
With an 11-9 record on the dual-match season, the Knights bring momentum into the tournament after posting a 5-2 victory at Stetson on April 11. UCF only played one C-USA team this season and the match was at its first-round opponent Tulane, where the Knights won four singles matches en route to a 4-3 victory.
Overall, the Knights are 63-57 in singles led by junior Katie Orletsky (Titusville, Fla.) with 13 wins and freshman Andrea Yacaman (Cartagena, Columbia) with 11. Two freshmen Alexis Rodriguez (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Christy Core (Charlotte, N.C.) have posted 10 wins on the season.
The doubles teams have a 34-25 record on the season. Sophomore Jenny Frisell (Gothenburg, Sweden) and senior Elvira Serrot (Madrid, Spain) have been the most consistent doubles team for the Knights earning a 12-4 record and a No. 56 ranking in the latest Campbell/ITA Tennis Rankings. The duo of Core and Orletsky have been equally as important at No. 3 bringing a 10-7 mark into the meeting against the Green Wave.
Tulane finished the regular season with a 12-11 overall and 2-4 C-USA record. The Green Wave ended the season winning four of its final five matches including victories over New Mexico State, Oregon and UTEP. Mariam Kurdadza leads Tulane with an 18-5 singles record, while the Green Wave is 67-66 overall.
Last year, the Knights were also the No. 7 seed sweeping No. 10 Memphis, 4-0, in the first round and battled to a 4-3 defeat against No. 2 Marshall during the quarterfinals. All-time, the Knights are 3-3 in C-USA Championships and have won a first-round match in each of their first three years in C-USA.
The winner of the matchup between UCF and Tulane will face No. 2 Tulsa at 3:00 p.m. ET Friday.
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