ORLANDO, Fla. – Highlighted by 12 home matches at the UCF Collegiate Tennis Center at the USTA National Campus and plenty of Power 6 matchups against some of the nation's top teams, the UCF women's tennis team has announced their 2021 dual match schedule.
UCF will face eight teams from the state of Florida in 2021. Their schedule includes some competitive Power 6 matchups as the Knights will face three Big 12 teams, at least three ACC squads, an SEC school and potentially a Big 10 team. The Black and Gold will face 11 teams that were ranked in the top-50 of the Oracle/ITA team poll at the time of the 2020 season shutting down.
The Knights' 19-match spring slate is set to begin with ITA Kickoff Weekend in Raleigh, N.C. on Jan. 24 against Wake Forest. UCF will face either NC State or Northwestern the following day, depending on the prior day's results. If the Black and Gold picks up a pair of wins on the weekend, they would qualify for ITA National Indoors in early February, guaranteeing them at least three more matches.
UCF's home opener is a big one, as the Knights will go head-to-head with the Florida Gators on Jan. 29. The last time these two sides met was on College MatchDay in late February 2019. The Black and Gold won a thrilling match that came down to the final singles court where Nandini Sharma secured the 4-3 victory in a come from behind effort in the third set. The UCF win was the first in program history against Florida.
The Knights will face Old Dominion at home on Feb. 1 before hitting the road to face Florida in Gainesville on Feb. 6, completing an in-season home-and-home series. It will be the first time since 2014 that UCF will visit the Gators at their place.
The Black and Gold will then host Stetson on Feb. 10 and Miami on Feb. 13. UCF will look to even the all-time series against Stetson at 27 a side and tally their first win against Miami. The Hurricanes have never visited the Knights in their previous nine meetings.
UCF will face their first of three Big 12 schools as they'll travel to face Texas on Feb. 21. It will be the first meeting between the two squads in each program's history. The Knights were slated to host the No. 4 Longhorns in 2020 prior to the cancelation of their remaining matches due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
FAU will await the Black and Gold as they open a three-match homestand on Feb. 27. Following their first match against the Owls since 2017, UCF will host Furman on March 7 and North Florida on March 13.
Another big in-state matchup will take place in Tallahassee as the Knights visit Florida State on March 26. UCF had never beaten FSU until the two teams met in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2019, where the Black and Gold upset the eleventh-seeded Seminoles 4-1.
UCF will open conference play as they host SMU on March 28. SMU is one of four conference opponents that the Knights will face in 2021.
The Black and Gold embark on their final road trip of the season on Easter weekend, visiting Oklahoma State on April 2 and Oklahoma on April 4. The Knights will square off against Oklahoma State for just the second time in program history and will face Oklahoma for the first time since 2002.
UCF returns home for a four-match home stint that completes their regular season schedule. Their annual War on I-4 matchup with South Florida is set for April 9. FIU visits the Knights the following day before Tulsa comes to town on April 16. The regular season concludes on April 18 as the Black and Gold face Wichita State.
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