ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF women's tennis team climbed two spots in this week's Oracle/ITA team rankings to No. 16, matching their season-high set back on March 10. The Black and Gold have three singles players ranked as well as two doubles tandems in this week's edition.
The Knights' lone match between the last set of rankings and this one was a conference battle with SMU. UCF prevailed by a count of 4-1, moving to 11-3 this season and 9-0 at home.
The Black and Gold's ranking of No. 16 is four spots shy of tying the program-best of No. 12 which was set early in the 2020 season before it got cut short.
No. 25 Valeriya Zeleva stayed put in this week's edition of the singles rankings after not playing against SMU on Sunday. She's 8-2 this season and has five wins in seven tries against ranked opposition this season.
Team captain Rebeka Stolmar checks in at No. 38 this week. She has compiled a 7-4 record in singles and has seen time at the top three spots in the lineup. Despite not finishing her match at No. 1 singles on Sunday, the computerized rankings saw her fall five spots this week.
Evgeniya Levashova rose eight spots this week to No. 85 in singles. She's also seen time at the top three singles positions while collecting a 6-3 record along the way.
In doubles, Stolmar and Marie Mattel climb two spots to No. 30 after beating the then-No. 30 pair of SMU. The tandem was ranked as high as No. 6 this season and are 5-5 on the year and have won their last two matches.
Zeleva and Ksenia Kuznetsova make their return to the rankings this week, checking in at No. 75 in doubles. The duo won their first seven matches together this season and are 9-1 when paired together. They're a perfect 7-0 at the No. 2 doubles spot in 2021.
The Knights are the highest ranked team in the American Athletic Conference and until this week had been the only team to represent the conference in the polls all season. SMU slides into the top 50, checking in at No. 48, just ahead of Tulsa at No. 49. UCF's Zeleva and Stomlar are the highest ranked singles players in the conference.
UP NEXT
The Knights will take a trip to the center of the country as they'll spend next weekend in Oklahoma. They are scheduled to face No. 41 Oklahoma State on Saturday at 6 p.m. and No. 33 Oklahoma on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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