ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – The UCF women's tennis team is set to begin their fall tournament season with two tournaments this weekend. Valeriya Zeleva will be participating in the Oracle ITA Masters beginning Thursday in Malibu, Calif. while four Knights will be competing in the USTA Fall Collegiate Classic.
Zeleva put together a remarkable campaign with the Knights last season, posting an 18-7 record with 10 wins against ranked opponents. She ended last season with a trip to the NCAA Singles Championships, the first known Knight to accomplish the feat since Veronica Widyadharma competed in the 1999 singles tournament.
Beginning Thursday, Zeleva will compete against some of college tennis' top players. 17 players out of a field of 32 are ranked, with Zeleva carrying a ranking of No. 29 into the tournament. Events begin at 11 a.m. ET from Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calf.
On the east coast, four Knights will take part in the USTA Fall Collegiate Classic which begins Friday. Rebeka Stolmar, Marie Mattel, Nandini Sharma and Domenika Turkovic will go head to head with players from some of the NCAA's best programs. Taking part in the tournament is No. 5 South Carolina, No. 10 Oklahoma State, No. 15 N.C. State, No. 18 Miami (FL), No. 20 Tennessee, No. 21 Florida, No. 23 Virginia and No. 24 Ohio State. The rankings come from last year's final USTA/Tennis Channel Top 25, not the official Oracle/ITA rankings.
No. 31 Mattel and Stolmar as well as Sharma and Turkovic will begin their tournaments with doubles play starting Friday at 9 a.m. Following the first round of doubles, two rounds of singles will be played on the opening day as No. 98 Stolmar, Mattel and Sharma will battle solo. The entire tournament takes place on UCF's home courts, the UCF Collegiate Tennis Center at the USTA National Campus.
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