ORLANDO – The No. 21 UCF women's tennis team (3-1) will close out its two-game homestand on Tuesday, Feb. 14 when they take on FIU (3-1) at the USTA National Campus. First serve will be at 5 p.m. and admission to the match is free. Live stats will be provided, as well as a live video stream of the courts.
LAST TIME OUT
The Knights opened up their homestand on Sunday, Feb. 5 against LSU with a 4-3 victory. After falling short securing the doubles point for the third match in a row, the Black and Gold battled back to secure four points, locking down the win. The Tigers took the doubles point and the first singles court to gain a 2-0 lead to start off the match, but the Knights gained momentum from a strong victory by Noel Saidenova on court three. Not long after, Jantje Tilbuerger and Sophia Biolay claimed wins on each of their courts, just seconds apart. The clinching point came from Nandini Sharma on court six in a three-set thriller that put the Knights over the four-point threshold needed to win the match.
BACK COURT ANCHORS
The back courts have been a strong point for the Knights this season, with all four points needed to secure the match against LSU coming from courts three through six. Redshirt senior Sharma is 3-1 on court six, with her only loss coming from the match against No. 15 Auburn. Sophomore Biolay has also been a rock on the back courts, with a 3-0 record on court five and two clinching points.
KNIGHTS IN THE POLLS
After the win over No. 19 Arizona State, the Knights gained two spots in the ITA poll, moving up to No. 21. Marie Mattel remained ranked in the latest ITA Singles rankings, earning a ranked win over the 54th-ranked singles player during ITA Kickoff Weekend. She is the lone Knight to be ranked in singles, coming in at No. 48, and to earn an AAC Women's Tennis Player of the Week honor. The duo of Mattel and Biolay also kept a position in the ITA Doubles rankings, shifting down to No. 34.
THE FIELD
The Panthers are 3-1 in their dual matches season, highlighted by a 4-1 victory over No. 18 UCLA during the consolation match of the ITA Kickoff Weekend. Their only loss came to No. 10 Miami the day prior, dropping 4-0. After collecting a top-15 doubles win in the UCLA match, the duo of Kamila Umarova and Ekaterina Khairutdinova climbed to No. 44 in the ITA Doubles poll. Freshman Khairutdinova also earned Conference USA's Women's Tennis Athlete of the Week honors two weeks ago, on Feb. 1, 2023. FIU leads the all-time series against the Knights, 11-23. The last matchup between the two occurred Feb. 21, 2022, with the Panthers taking the match 1-4.
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