ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – After winning their conference tournament, the UCF women’s tennis team is ranked No. 24 in Tuesday’s release of the Oracle/ITA rankings, up one spot from the week prior.
The Knights dominated the American Athletic Conference championship tournament, sweeping each opponent on their way to a perfect title. The championship is the first in the American and the team’s sixth conference championship in its history. They won four consecutive crowns from 1997-2000 and added another one in 2002.
Valeriya Zeleva and Ksenia Kuznetsova are still in both the singles and doubles rankings as they had a tournament to remember.
Zeleva checks in three spots higher this week at No. 43 in the singles rankings after going 2-0 and beating two ranked opponents in straight sets during the tournament. Her performance earned her the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award. Zeleva leads the team in spring wins with a record of 17-5 and a 9-5 mark against ranked opponents.
Kuznetsova now sits at No. 81, a spot higher than last week. She only finished one match throughout the tournament in singles, picking up the championship clinching win. She didn’t lose a set during the tournament and continued her solid play. She leads the Knights in total wins on the season, with a combined record of 24-8 over the 2018-2019 year. Her win total ties her for fourth place on UCF’s single season wins list. She is currently tied with Jing Chen who picked up 24 victories in the 1994-1995 season. Kuznetsova could pull into a tie for third place with a win and be even with Caroline Eberhart who picked up 25 wins in the 2012-2013 season.
In doubles play, Zeleva and Kuznetsova register at No. 24 after going 1-1 in the conference tournament. UCF’s dynamic duo lost to the No. 17 pair in the nation, a duo that they had beat prior in the season. That duo is now ranked No. 11. In the championship, Zeleva and Kuznetsova dominated their opponent, taking 6-1 victory.
UP NEXT
The Knights await their placement in the NCAA Tournament which they are guaranteed to be a part of because of their conference title. The selection show takes place on Monday, April 29 on NCAA.com.
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