ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF men’s tennis team will finish the 2018-2019 campaign ranked at No. 31 in the Oracle/ITA team rankings.
At the beginning of the season, the Knights were just outside the top-25 to begin the season as they received votes in the preseason Oracle/ITA rankings. From there the Knights started 1-5 and fell out of the conversation in the rankings. It wasn’t until March 5 when UCF made an appearance in the team rankings as they checked in at No. 49. The Knights took a roller coaster of a ride through the rankings from that point on as they never improved or declined in the rankings in back to back weeks until the later part of the season.
UCF tied their highest ranking in program history twice this season, getting up to No. 28 in the rankings on April 2 and April 16. The Knights last reached that mark April 5, 2017 which was during Director of Tennis John Roddick’s first season at the help of the Black and Gold.
The Knights played quality competition all season long as they played 16 different top-75 teams. UCF went 5-9 against top-50 opposition during the season. The strong schedule on top of some statement wins helped the Knights get into their second NCAA tournament in the last three seasons.
Five singles players for UCF entered the season ranked; only one of them was able to stay in the rankings for the entire season. Gabriel Decamps entered the season ranked No. 31 in the nation and currently sits at No. 43. Alan Rubio was also ranked during the spring season, the other three that were ranked in the preseason did not receive a ranking in 2019. Freshmen Bogdan Pavel and Trey Hilderbrand entered the doubles rankings on March 19 at No. 54 and only went up from there, climbing as high as No. 14. The final editions of the Oracle/ITA singles and doubles rankings will be release on Wednesday.
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