ORLANDO, Fla. – The UCF women's tennis team has three singles players and one doubles tandem ranked in the final release of the Oracle/ITA singles and doubles rankings.
Two Knights finished inside the top 35 of the singles rankings as Valeriya Zeleva wraps up her incredible 2021 season as the nation's No. 31 singles player while Rebeka Stolmar finishes her career at No. 35. Evgeniya Levashova is the third and final ranked Knight in singles as she checks in at No. 110.
Zeleva had a remarkable season, posting a 13-2 record during the dual match season, including eight wins in ten tries against ranked opponents. After losing her opening matches of the 2021 campaign during ITA Kickoff Weekend, she ripped off 13 consecutive wins, finishing out the dual match season on a high note. She earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Singles Championships, becoming the first Knight to earn multiple bids to the individual draw. Zeleva climbed as high as No. 17 this year, setting a personal and program best.
Stolmar had an impressive senior campaign, picking up a trio of ranked wins during the dual match season and collecting a record of 13-7. She primarily saw time at No. 2 singles, but also earned four victories in five tries at the top spot in the lineup. She earned her first bid to the NCAA Singles Championships, which doubled as the first season that two Knights reached the singles draw. Stolmar climbed as high as No. 28 this season, the top mark of her career.
Levashova saw time at the top three singles spots this season, going 12-6 in total. She was solid at the third spot in the lineup, going 7-3. Levashova went on to win the conference tournament's Most Outstanding Player award as the Knights repeated as American champions.
UCF's tandem of Zeleva and Ksenia Kuznetsova finish the year as the No. 53 tandem in the country. The duo was a solid pairing throughout their career together and started off the 2021 campaign hot, winning seven in a row. They finished the season with a record of 14-4, including a perfect 9-0 mark at the second doubles position. The two capped off their year with a win over Duke's No. 9 ranked pair in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, beating Chole Beck and Karolina Berankova on court two.
The Oracle/ITA released their final team rankings on May 26 and had UCF tabbed as the nation's No. 11 squad.
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