Championship Central | Championship Bracket | Live Stats
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - The UCF men's tennis team travels to Memphis for the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championships this weekend. The Knights, who are the six seed, open the tournament against the third-seeded SMU Mustangs in Friday's quarterfinals.
The Knights earned a first round bye in the four-day event at the Dunavant Wellford Tennis Center in Memphis. The Black and Gold face the Mustangs at 10 a.m. ET on Friday. No. 8 East Carolina and No. 9 UConn open the men's side of the tournament on Thursday.
For the second straight season, the Knights earned the No. 6 seed. The top five seeds all rank in the top 45 of the ITA rankings, with the top three sitting in the top 30. SMU holds the No. 27 ranking, with two players ranked in singles action and a pair of doubles teams ranked. Hunter Johnson is No. 61 in the ITA singles with an 11-5 record in dual action. Nate Lammons is No. 105, compiling a 16-3 record in singles. Johnson and his brother Yates Johnson are No. 26 in doubles action, posting an 11-5 record at No. 1. Lammons and Arkadijs Slobodkins are No. 42 with a 7-1 record at No. 2.
UCF enters the tournament with a 9-12 overall record, going 2-3 against conference opponents this season. The Knights face the Mustangs for just the third time in program history. The teams last met in the 2014 conference tournament, with SMU earning a 4-1 victory.
Sophomore Nicolo De Fraia has an 11-6 record in singles action, earning eight of those wins at No. 5. Juniors Chris Barrus and Inaki Espindola each have nine wins in singles action. Barrus earned five of those at No. 2, while Espindola collected six wins at No. 1 this season.
Head coach Bobby Cashman and the Knights have had success at conference tournaments over the years, winning the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship and earning a berth to the NCAA Tournament three straight seasons from 2003-2005.
Last season UCF fell to Tulane in The American quarterfinals by a score of 4-0. The last time the Knights advanced to the semifinals of a conference tournament was in 2010 when UCF topped ECU 4-2 as the three seed in the C-USA Championship.
Championship Schedule
Thursday, April 21 - First Round
Match 1: No. 8 East Carolina vs. No. 9 UConn - 10 a.m. ET
Friday, April 22 - Quarterfinals
Match 2: No. 3 SMU vs. No. 6 UCF - 10 a.m. ET
Match 3: No. 2 Tulsa vs. No. 7 Temple - 10 a.m. ET
Match 4: No. 1 USF vs. Winner Match 1 - 1 p.m. ET
Match 5: No. 4 Tulane vs. No. 5 Memphis - 1 p.m. ET
Saturday, April 23 - Semifinals
Match 6: Winner Match 2 vs. Winner Match 3 - 10 a.m. ET
Match 7: Winner Match 4 vs. Winner Match 5 - 10 a.m. ET
Sunday, April 24 - Finals
Match 8: Winner Match 6 vs. Winner Match 7 - 1 p.m. ET