ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) - After a record-breaking regular season that culminated with the top seed in the American Athletic Conference, the No. 21 UCF women's tennis team now sets its sights on greater goals in the postseason.
"It's obviously what we want for UCF, not just for women's tennis, but for all programs, said head coach Bryan Koniecko. "That's what we're trying to fight for, for our University, for UCF. Our players take that to heart."
UCF (18-3, 5-1) now heads to Dallas this week for the Conference Tournament, where the Black and Gold earned a first round bye and will take on the winner of No. 8 seed Tulane and No. 9 seed ECU in the quarterfinals at Turpin Stadium, Thursday at 1 p,m.
The Knights have been ranked in the top 25 of the Oracle/ITA polls for the last seven weeks, including a program record high of No. 19 on April 10. The women have seen an increase from 13 wins in 2017 and a No. 8 seed in the AAC Tournament, to 18 wins and counting and the top draw in this year's bracket.
"We try to talk about that it doesn't really matter what you've done before, said Koniecko. "Obviously you don't take it for granted. You got to appreciate what you've done to get yourself to this position, but it can go away quickly if we don't treat every match the same way."
The Black and Gold finished up the regular season winning 12 of their final 13 matches, including conference victories at Wichita State and USF and versus Memphis and ECU.
UCF earned a 4-0 sweep against its possible second round opponent ECU on March 4, but did not face Tulane during the regular season. The AAC currently boasts three teams (No. 21 UCF, No. 26 Tulsa, and No. 34 Wichita State) in the Oracle/ITA rankings.
Tulsa, Wichita State and USF also earned opening round byes.
"It's a tough league," added Koniecko. "There's always four or five teams that can win the conference tournament. Every year it's going to be a very competitive conference and it's exciting because every year you have a chance to make the NCAA tournament if you're playing your best tennis that week."
This is the first number one seed for the Knights since joining The American. Last year, UCF went into the Conference Tournament as a No. 4 seed and captured a 4-0 win over Houston in the first round, before falling to Tulsa in the quarterfinals.
Wednesday, April 18 | First Round
- Match 1: No. 11 UConn (10-10) vs. No. 6 Houston (19-3)
9 a.m. CT | Turpin Stadium
Live Scoring - Match 2: No. 10 Cincinnati (11-9) vs. No. 7 Memphis (15-7)
9 a.m. CT | Crum Tennis Courts
Live Scoring - Match 3: No. 9 Tulane (12-10) vs. No. 8 ECU (17-8)
Noon CT | Crum Tennis Courts
Live Scoring - Match 4: No. 12 Temple (10-7) vs. No. 5 SMU (12-8)
Noon CT | Turpin Stadium
Live Scoring
Thursday, April 19 | Quarterfinals
- Match 5: Tulane/ECU winner vs. No. 1 UCF (18-3)
Noon CT | Turpin Stadium
Live Scoring - Match 6: Temple/SMU winner vs. No. 4 USF (11-10)
Noon CT | Crum Tennis Courts
Live Scoring - Match 7: UConn/Houston winner vs. No. 3 Wichita State (16-7)
3 p.m. CT | Crum Tennis Courts
Live Scoring - Match 8: Cincinnati/Memphis winner vs. No. 2 Tulsa (18-5)
3 p.m. CT | Turpin Stadium
Live Scoring
Friday, April 20 | Semifinals
- Match 9: Match 5 winner vs. Match 6 winner
3 p.m. CT | TBD
Live Scoring - Match 10: Match 7 winner vs. Match 8 winner
3 p.m. CT | TBD
Live Scoring
Saturday, April 21 | Final
- Match 11: Semifinal winners
3 p.m. CT | Turpin Stadium
American Digital Network
Live Scoring
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