ORLANDO, Fla. – For the first time in program history, the UCF men's tennis team had three Knights named as All-Americans. Gabriel Decamps was named as a singles All-American, becoming the first Knight to earn multiple All-American nods in their career. Trey Hilderbrand and Bogdan Pavel were named as doubles All-Americans.
Decamps is the program's only singles All-American and is a two-time winner of the sport's highest honor. Becoming a two-time All-American is just one of the impressive feats that Decamps has accomplished this season. He was the first Knight to advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Singles Championships and even reached the quarterfinals where he fell to the top seeded player of the tournament. He climbed as high as No. 3 in the Oracle/ITA singles rankings, setting a new personal and program best. He finished the season with a record of 20-5, recording 11 wins over ranked opponents and posting a 17-4 dual match mark, all at the top spot in the lineup.
Hilderbrand and Pavel become the third tandem in program history to be named as doubles All-Americans. The two didn't start the season together but reunited at the No. 1 doubles spot in the lineup on the road against No. 24 Oklahoma and were immediately back to an elite level. The two rattled off a 10-2 dual match record with six wins over ranked opponents in eight tries. They earned their first victory in the NCAA Doubles Championships as they won in comeback fashion in a third-set super tiebreaker in the round of 32. Together, they climbed as high as No. 5 in the Oracle/ITA doubles rankings this season, just two spots shy of tying a personal and program high.
Decamps, Hilderbrand and Pavel all automatically received All-American bids by being nationally seeded in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships. Decamps was tabbed as the No. 8 nationally seeded singles player while Hilderbrand and Pavel were tabbed as a No. 5-8 seed.
The trio of 2021 All-Americans brings UCF's count up to seven Knights with a total of eight nods. The program's first All-Americans came in 1983 when Mike DeFranco and Troy McQuagge made their way into the record books. It was another 35 seasons before the Knights found their next pair of All-Americans in Korey Lovett and Eero Vasa, who were nationally seeded in the 2018 NCAA Doubles Championships. Decamps earned his first All-American nod in the shortened 2020 season when he climbed as high as No. 7 in the singles rankings.
Director of Tennis John Roddick has helped in generating more All-American nods at UCF than years he has coached the Black and Gold, responsible for five student-athletes earning six bids in five seasons.
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