ORLANDO, Fla. – The No. 11 UCF men's tennis team looks to defend its home courts and hoist their first conference title since 2005 as they are set to begin their run in the American Athletic Conference Championship. The top-seeded Knights will face off against fifth-seeded No. 33 Wichita State on Friday at 3:30 p.m.
This is the second straight tournament that UCF will be The American's top seed. As predetermined before the season, the Knights will host the conference tournament at the UCF Collegiate Tennis Center at the USTA National Campus. The tournament runs from Thursday to Saturday as seven other teams look to make their run at the conference trophy. The Knights were given a bye because eighth-seeded Temple came down with COVID-19 issues, forcing them to withdraw from the tournament. Teams were seeded in order of their Oracle/ITA team rankings.
The 19-3 record owned by the Knights is the best record under Director of Tennis John Roddick. It's the most victories since 2003 when the team tallied 20 wins and earned an ASUN title along the way.
The Knights are riding an 11-match winning streak into the postseason which is tied for the fourth longest in the program's history. What may be even more impressive is that 10 of the 11 opponents defeated on the steak were ranked in the top 50 of the Oracle/ITA team rankings.
Each of UCF's starters in singles have a dozen wins or more. Gabriel Decamps and Kento Yamada lead the team with 16 wins apiece. Trey Hilderbrand is right behind them with 15 wins of his own and is riding an eight-match winning streak into the weekend.
These two teams met as recently less than two weeks ago as the Knights topped the Shockers 5-2 on April 12. Prior to this season, the two sides had only met once, which was in the 2019 American tournament.
Wichita State is 16-7 this season after their quarterfinal win over Memphis in thrilling fashion, coming from behind in the final set on the final remaining court. The Shockers are 1-6 in road matches this season but 5-1 at neutral sites.
UCF is searching for their fourth overall conference championship and first as part of The American. The Knights will look win the title after falling in tight title matches in 2017 and 2019. The Black and Gold's only conference championships came in a burst as they three-peated as victors of the ASUN from 2003-2005.
CAPACITY, MASKS AND MORE
The USTA National Campus will allow 25 percent of capacity of fans at matches. Masks and social distancing in the stands are required. A daily health waiver must be filled out upon entry to the venue. Spectators will not be allowed in the indoor tennis facility if the match needs to be moved for any reason. More information can be found on the links attached to this preview. Matches are free to attend.
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