ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com)—The UCF women's tennis team returns to action with a pair of matches this week. The Knights host Florida Atlantic on Friday at 5 p.m. and Liberty on Saturday at 4 p.m., at the USTA National Campus.
On Tuesday, Natalia Serrano earned her first American Athletic Conference Player of the Week honor after going 2-0 at No. 1 singles and 2-0 at No. 2 doubles for the Knights. The Barcelona, Spain native defeated No. 83 Michelle Valdez of North Florida to help the Knights defeat the Ospreys 5-2. Serrano earned her second victory of the week against Florida Gulf Coast. She paired with Emilia Granstrom and extended their winning streak to 9-0 at the No. 2 doubles position.
The Knights earned a No. 46 ITA team ranking for the first time since April 2, 2013 on Tuesday. UCF joins the Tulsa as the only nationally ranked teams in the American Athletic Conference.
UCF enters the week with an 8-1 record coming off its 6-1 victory over Florida Gulf Coast last Friday. Cortney Cesarini, Monica Matias and Granstrom all sit with 8-1 singles records this season.
Florida Atlantic enters the weekend with a 4-3 overall record. The Owls will take on Liberty on Friday at 11 a.m. prior to facing the Knights. In its last outing, FAU dropped a 4-0 decision to Florida State. UCF holds a 26-11 lead over FAU in the all-time series and last season the Knights swept the Owls, 7-0.
Liberty enters the weekend with a 4-4 record. In their last outing, the Flames fell in a close 4-3 match to Furman. This is the first time the Flames and Knights will take the court against each other.
Fans will be able to watch both matches this weekend live online via PlaySight streaming. Live results will also be available and both can be accessed on the UCFKnights.com women's tennis schedule page.