ORLANDO, Fla. – After earning yesterday's nod as The American's Player of the Week for her 4-0 performance against No. 21 Florida and Miami, Valeriya Zeleva has been named the ITA/UTR Player of the Week.
Zeleva's play over the last nine days has bumped her UTR up by nearly a quarter of a point, jumping from 10.14 to 10.36. For those unfamiliar, UTR is a way to measure the skill of a player across the globe, at is universally used across the sport of tennis. The higher it goes, the better a player is.
Zeleva's outstanding week began last Tuesday as the Knights visited then No. 21 Florida. Zeleva and partner Ksenia Kuznetsova have been unstoppable to this point in the season, coming into the week with a 4-0 mark. The No. 60 tandem made it look easy on court two against the Gators, winning 6-2 as the first match done in the doubles segment. UCF went on to win the doubles point and take the early 1-0 advantage. No. 67 Zeleva kept the momentum going in singles and was responsible for the match's next point as well, earning a 6-4, 6-2 win over Marlee Zein on court two. The Knights went on to beat the Gators 4-1 to earn the season sweep of Florida.
Saturday was a big day for Zeleva as well as the Black and Gold hosted Miami, a team that received votes in the latest team poll. Her and Kuznetsova won a tight 6-4 match on court two to seal the doubles point for UCF. The victory advanced the pair to a clean 6-0 record in doubles. Zeleva earned her second win over a ranked opponent this season with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) victory on court two over No. 87 Daevenia Achong to clinch the match and lock up the 4-0 sweep of the Hurricanes. Zeleva has won four straight matches and sits with a 3-0 record at the No. 2 singles spot.
The UTR ITA Player of the Week award is entering year two of being awarded. The UTR ITA Player of the Week awards program honors male and female individuals from all five divisions (NCAA Division I, II, III, NAIA, and Junior College) with weekly awards during the spring dual-match season.
The ITA UTR Player of the Week honors a collegiate tennis player whose increase in UTR rating throughout the previous week was indicative of his/her high level of performance, including notable wins such as clinching matches and upsets.
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