ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF women's tennis team began the 2020 campaign with three singles players and two doubles tandems holding national rankings. A new doubles combo climbed into the rankings just five matches into the season, bringing the Knights to three ranked singles players and three ranked pairs. This marks the first time in program history that UCF has three ranked doubles pairs at one time.
Leading the Knights in the singles rankings is senior captain Rebeka Stolmar, checking in at No. 32. The new ranking is the highest of Stolmar's career. After posting a 12-6 record in singles during the tournament season, Stolmar has seen just one match thus far, falling in a tight contest on court four. She came out of the fall ranked No. 34 after winning the consolation bracket at the ITA All-American Championships.
Valeriya Zeleva currently sits at No. 65 in singles after a fantastic start to her season yet again. Last season, she started out 9-0 in singles and climbed the rankings quickly. In 2020, she has collected a 4-1 record and most recently earned a victory at the top singles spot. She ended the fall season as the nation's No. 40 singles player.
Marie Mattel rounds out the Knights singles players as she is ranked 61st in singles. She's gotten out to a 3-2 start, all coming at the third spot in the lineup. Mattel came in clutch in the team's match against Utah during ITA Kickoff Weekend where she clinched the match as the last court to finish, giving UCF the 4-3 win. Mattel came out of the fall at No. 54 in singles play.
Leading the charge in doubles is Stolmar and Mattel as they check in at No. 5 in the doubles rankings. The pair has gone 1-1 against ranked opponents and 1-2 on the season, most recently beating No. 18 Texas A&M's Tatiana Makarova and Jayci Goldsmith, the nation's No. 47 duo at the time. Stolmar and Mattel's ranking of No. 5 is two spots down from their previous ranking of No. 3 which stands as the best in program history.
Checking in at No. 32 is Zeleva and Ksenia Kuznetsova. The tandem has not seen action together this spring. The duo came out of the fall season ranked No. 11 in the country after going 3-3 in tournament play.
Fresh into the rankings is the duo of Evgeniya Levashova and Domenika Turkovic, slotted as the nation's No. 44 pair. The two have compiled a 3-1 record together, with a 2-1 record at the second doubles position. They have a ranked win to their name, topping Texas A&M's No. 20 pair of Lucia Quiterio and Jessica Anzo. The Knight tandem won in style, defeating the Aggie combo 6-2 on court two.
UP NEXT
The Knights will play host to Nebraska, TCU and UC Santa Barbara during Valentine's Day weekend. While matchups haven't been announced yet, UCF will play a full match on Feb. 14, a full match on Feb. 16, and spread out the remaining match over those two days.
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