(RV) UCF vs. #7 Wake Forest January 31, 2020, 5:00 P.M. | (RV) UCF vs. (RV) Virginia February 2, 2020, Noon |
ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF men's tennis team is set for an ACC road trip this weekend as they'll visit No. 7 Wake Forest and Virginia on Friday and Sunday respectively.
The Black and Gold will face their fourth straight ranked opponent when they meet Wake Forest on Friday. The Knights are coming off a 1-1 trip out west at ITA Kickoff Weekend in Los Angeles. UCF won their initial matchup against then No. 24 San Diego before being edged in a close contest to No. 10 UCLA. Gabriel Decamps has been on a tear in singles at the No. 1 spot, defeating the No. 7 and No. 30 singles players over the weekend. Mikhail Sokolovskiy also went 2-0 in singles, grabbing a pair of victories at the No. 6 position.
The Knights will travel to Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Friday to face one of college tennis' best teams in recent memory. Wake Forest has made the NCAA Tournament for seven consecutive seasons and have appeared in two straight national championship matches. The Demon Deacons hoisted the NCAA championship in 2018 beating Ohio State 4-2 before falling to Texas in 2019 in the title match 4-1.
Wake Forest currently sits with a 4-0 record on the season. They opened the season with a pair of 7-0 wins over Coastal Carolina and Tennessee Tech. They went on to beat ETSU and Kentucky during ITA Kickoff Weekend by scores of 4-2 in each match.
Despite losing top ranked singles player Petros Chrysochos from last year's squad, the Demon Deacons still have three ranked players in their singles lineup. Bar Botzer, now their top singles player, sits at No. 43. Rounding out the bunch is Rrezart Cungu at No. 56 and Siddhant Banthia at No. 67.
Virginia is another program that has competed at a high level for the past few seasons, winning four national titles in the last decade (2013, '15, '16 and '17). They reached the Elite Eight in 2019 before falling to Wake Forest 4-2. The Cavaliers started the 2020 campaign ranked No. 10 in the preseason poll but have since dropped to receiving votes after a 3-2 start with losses to Louisville and No. 17 NC State.
The Cavaliers have a pair of singles players and doubles tandems in the rankings. Gianni Ross sits at No. 68 in singles while Ryan Goetz checks in at No. 115. In doubles, Goetz and Ammar Alhaqbani team up to make the nation's No. 34 duo while Ross and William Woodall are pegged as the No. 53 pair.
FOLLOW THE KNIGHTS
Follow UCF Men's Tennis on social media on Facebook (/UCF.MTennis), Twitter (UCF_MTennis) and Instagram (UCF.MTennis).
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. Click here to download the app now.