ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – After opening the season with a strong performance against the No. 9 team in the nation, the UCF men's tennis team treks out to Los Angeles, Calif., for the ITA Kickoff Weekend.
On Saturday afternoon, the Knights (0-1) will face Utah State at 2:30 p.m. ET. Depending upon Saturday's result, the Black and Gold will face either No. 6 UCLA or UC Davis on Sunday.
The ITA Kickoff Weekend ushers in the spring dual season for collegiate tennis. 60 teams are split up into 15, four-team pods. Each team will play two matches, and the winner of each group will advance to the ITA Team Indoor National Championships in February.
Based on the final ITA poll of 2017, in which the Black and Gold finished 33rd, UCF will be a No. 2 seed in its pod. The host Bruins are the No. 1, Utah State is No. 3 and UC Davis is No. 4.
The Knights started the year on Monday at No. 9 Florida. UCF fielded a lineup of two returners and four newcomers. New doubles partners Korey Lovett and Eero Vasa knocked off the top ranked doubles team from Florida 6-4, after jumping out to a 4-0 lead.
Rookie Alan Rubio picked up a point for the Black and Gold in his first collegiate match. The Mexican international down his opponent at No. 3 singles, the 39th ranked Duarte Vale.
Utah State is 2-1 this season after posting back-to-back sweeps of Southern Utah and Idaho State. The Aggies' lone blemish came at Utah in a 4-3 decision. Jose Carvajal was named the Mountain West Player of the Week with a perfect 2-0 mark in singles and doubles.
The Bruins have dropped just two individual matches as a part of their 4-0 start. Martin Redlicki is the top ranked player in the country by the ITA. Logan Staggs and Keegan Smith both started the year ranked at 55 and 108, respectively.
UC Davis opened the year with a 4-1 over the University of the Pacific, but fell in its last two contests, 4-1 to Fresno State and 6-1 to USC.
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