ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFKnights.com) – Highlighted by 13 home matches at the UCF Collegiate Tennis Center at the USTA National Campus and five total matches against top 25 programs, the UCF women's tennis team has announced their spring 2020 schedule.
"I can't wait to begin our 2020 spring season," said UCF head coach Bryan Koniecko, "I know our team is excited for the challenge and they deserve to have one of the best schedules in the country. We learned a ton from last year from some of our wins and losses. With more experience this year, we understand how good every team is and the amount of focus and preparation we need to bring every day to be successful."
UCF is coming off their best season in program history in which the team went 24-4 overall and reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, a feat they had never accomplished before. The Knights were the American Athletic Conference Champions for the first time as well, winning their first conference crown since 2002. The Black and Gold went 15-0 at home during the regular season and 18-0 in total at the USTA National Campus when including their 3-0 run in the conference tournament. The Knights won 20 matches for the sixth time in their history and look to build on their 41-6 record in the last three seasons at the USTA.
The 2020 schedule consists of seven teams that reached the NCAA Tournament in the spring of 2019, including four national seeds and three that made the Sweet 16. Of the 23 total matches on this season's slate, 14 were ranked inside the top-75 by the ITA at season's end. UCF went 8-4 against ranked teams in 2019.
Lots of Power 6 opponents are scattered about on UCF's schedule. The Knights will potentially play up to five Big 12 teams, two Big 10 teams, two SEC teams, one ACC team and one Pac 12 team. The Black and Gold will take on six AAC opponents as their conference slate.
UCF will open their 2020 campaign at home against Cornell before traveling to Ann Arbor, Mich. for ITA Kickoff Weekend on Jan. 25 and 26. The Knights will take on No. 44 Utah on that Saturday before playing either No. 14 Michigan or No. 48 Ole Miss on Sunday depending on the result of both matches.
The Black and Gold then return home to face FSU, a team they crossed paths with twice last season. After an early season 5-2 loss to the Seminoles, the Knights topped FSU in the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament by a count of 4-1 to advance to their first ever Sweet 16. The win was UCF's first over the Seminoles in program history, knocking off the tournament's No. 11 seed on their home courts.
The Knights will host Texas A&M to begin February. The matchup will be the first time the two teams meet in their respective histories. The two schools do have a tie-in though as UCF assistant coach Cristina Sanchez-Quintanar graduated from Texas A&M in 2014 as a tri-student athlete before joining the Black and Gold in August of 2016.
Should the Knights win both matches in Ann Arbor for ITA Kickoff Weekend, they would qualify for the ITA National Indoors, which take place from Feb. 7-10.
UCF will host three more teams at home after that, playing two matches against either TCU, Nebraska or UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 14 and 16 and then hosting Ole Miss on the 21st.
The Knights then hit the road for their first true road trip of the season, spanning four matches. They'll play Old Dominion and Tulane at Tulane to end February before opening March at SMU and Baylor.
The Black and Gold will return home for five matches, their longest homestand of the season. They begin by hosting Texas (Mar. 15) and Yale (Mar. 16) before hosting Oral Roberts and Cincinnati in a double header on March 18. Cincinnati is the only conference team that UCF will host, with the other five coming on the road. The homestand ends with the Knights taking on FIU on March 22.
UCF will visit Wichita State (Mar. 27) for the first time in program history before traveling to Tulsa (Mar. 29), a team the Knights beat three times last season.
April kicks off with UCF hosting a pair of Big 12 schools as Oklahoma State and Oklahoma to round the Knights' home schedule. The regular season comes to an end as the Black and Gold will travel I-4 to take on the South Florida Bulls. UCF defeated the Bulls in the conference championship match last season by a convincing 4-0 margin.
The American Athletic Conference Championships will be held in Tulsa this season from Apr. 16-20. Last season, the Knights hosted the conference championship tournament and won it all on their home courts.
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