ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The No. 32 UCF men’s tennis team will wrap up their regular season with a pair of American Athletic Conference opponents. The Knights will travel to Tampa to face No. 44 USF at 1:30 p.m. before returning home to play the Memphis Tigers in the season finale at 6 p.m.
After a week of no match action, the Knights will begin the final leg of the 2019 regular season in Tampa. The two teams have split their last two regular season matchups. In 2017, the Knights and Bulls met in the American Athletic Conference Championship. It was John Roddick’s first year as Director of Tennis and Head coach of UCF and the inaugural appearance for the Knights in the AAC Championship. After beating the Bulls earlier in the regular season, the Knights fell to USF as they won the AAC Championship. It is very possible that these two could meet again in the AAC tournament as UCF will look to get some revenge.
The Bulls are 13-6 on the season and have a 3-0 record in the conference. They will play Memphis on Friday before Memphis travels to Orlando to play UCF on Monday. USF’s No. 1 singles player is the highest ranked player in the American Athletic Conference. Alberto Barroso-Campos is ranked No. 17 in the nation and has been battling with Gabriel Decamps all season for the right to be the highest ranked AAC player. Decamps currently sits at No. 32, making for a top-35 match at the No. 1 singles position on Sunday. USF has one doubles pair in the rankings as Alberto Barroso-Campos and Pierre Luquet partner up to make the No. 67 pair in the nation. They will likely match up with No. 24 Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel at doubles position No. 1.
As a whole, UCF athletics has already won the War On I-4 and lead the series 43-8 this season. In its three year existence, the Knights have won the War On I-4 all three times.
Memphis is an even 11-11 on the year with a 2-3 record in the conference headed into Friday’s matchup with USF. Memphis has lost three of their last four matches, but they have all been close. All three losses were by a score of 4-3, with their only win being a 4-0 sweep of SMU. David Stevenson and Oscar Cutting make up the No. 60 pair in the nation for Memphis. Those two are the only Tigers in the rankings as Memphis doesn’t have any singles players ranked inside the top-125.
GET THE APP
Never miss any UCF Knights news from your favorite team by downloading the free UCF Knights app right to your iOS or Android phone! The app provides personalized information for men's and women's teams, scores, schedules, loyalty programs and even breaking news.
FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS
Follow UCF Men's Tennis on social media on Facebook (/UCF.MTennis), Twitter (UCF_MTennis) and Instagram (UCF.MTennis).