ORLANDO - The No. 23 UCF women's tennis team will take their first road trip of the season when it heads up to Auburn for ITA Kickoff Weekend. The Knights will take on No. 19 Arizona State on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 4 p.m. and either No. 15 Auburn or UCSB on Sunday, Jan. 29, with that match time TBA.
Cracked Racquets will be providing a livestream of all ITA Kickoff Weekend matches on their YouTube channel and a court-by-court livestream will be provided as well. Live stats for the entire weekend can be found here.
The Knights started off their spring season at home on Saturday, Jan. 21, where they defeated Stetson 4-3. No. 47 Marie Mattel continued her success from last season with both a singles and doubles win on the top court. Sophia Biolay helped to hold down the home courts, earning the clinching victory in a quick two-set decision against Stetson's Magda Hedrzak.
ITA Kickoff Weekend has become a marquee event of the spring dual match season. The 15 programs that advance from the weekend will compete in the ITA Division I National Women's Team Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Washington in Seattle, Wash. If the Knights advance, it will be the first time in program history that the squad will get the opportunity to compete in the Indoor Championships.
THE FIELD
No. 19 Arizona State Sun Devils
The Sun Devils kicked off their spring season with a dominant five-game homestand, sweeping every team they host 7-0. Their squad features the No. 9 doubles tandem of Domenika Turkovic and Patricija Spaka, as well as four ranked singles players in No. 69 Giulia Morlet, No. 74 Turkovic, No. 84 Marianna Argyrokastriti, and No. 95 Sedona Gallagher. This will be the first meeting between the Knights and the Sun Devils.
No. 15 Auburn Tigers
The Tigers have had a successful start to their spring season, going 2-1 through their opening weekend. Their only loss came against No. 2 UNC, but they were able to bounce back in their doubleheader to sweep Samford 7-0. Freshman Kaitlyn Carnicella was awarded SEC Freshman of the Week honors after defeating both No. 5 Abbey Forbes of UNC and Ally Hayduk of Samford. If the two teams do face off on Sunday, it will mark the fourth all-time meeting between them. The Tigers took the last matchup 4-0 during the 2022 ITA Kickoff Weekend.
UC Santa Barbara Gauchos
The Gauchos started off their dual match season with a 5-2 victory over UC Davis, but then fell to No. 12 Cal 1-6 after only having five players available to play. Sophomore Amelia Honer was named Big West Player of the Week after going undefeated in both matches of the opening weekend. This is the third time she has won this award in her career. UCF and UCSB have met two times in the past, with the Knights defeating the Gauchos 4-2 in their last duel during the 2022 ITA Kickoff Weekend.
