ORLANDO - The No. 23 UCF women's tennis team will continue its home stand this weekend, hosting No. 30 Miami. The match will take place at the USTA National Campus, with a first serve at 12 p.m. The match will have free admission, with live stats and live video streaming being offered as well. The first 50 fans to arrive will receive a free "Nona Knights" bucket hat.
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, the Knights split the two matches played, taking a commanding 4-0 victory over No. 65 TCU, then dropping 0-4 to No. 25 Pepperdine. In the match against TCU, the Black and Gold secured the doubles point for the third time this season, even defeating the 44th-ranked doubles tandem on court two, then taking courts three, five, and six in straight sets to sweep the Horned Frogs 4-0 on Friday night. The Knights fell short Sunday afternoon, unable to earn the doubles point, then dropping short in the first set on all courts. While the squad continued to battle, they were unable to gain any momentum. This was the first time UCF had been defeated on home courts in the spring season.
KNIGHTS IN THE POLLS
After the loss to Pepperdine last weekend, the Knights shifted down in the ITA Rankings to No. 23. Mattel remained ranked in the latest ITA Singles rankings, moving up to No. 31, with a singles record of 5-2. Sharma reentered the singles rankings at 125, with a singles record of 5-2 as well.
THE FIELD
No. 30 Miami has had an eventful season, earning ranked wins over No. 20 Cal and No. 46 Boston College, as well as fellow Florida foes FIU, FAU and FGCU. Its two losses come from No. 24 Iowa State and No. 53 Syrcause. Coming off the 2-5 loss to Syracuse, the Hurricanes dropped seven spots in the ITA Rankings to 30. They reached a season-high ranking of No. 10 in the Jan. 25 rankings after their exciting 6-1 victory over FAU. Redshirt sophomore Alexa Noel has bounced back after taking a redshirt year at Iowa, coming in at No. 8 in the singles rankings and No. 9 in the doubles rankings with partner Daevenia Achong. She won ACC Player of the Week honors after a strong showing at the Miami Spring Invite, and is currently 8-2 in singles with four ranked wins and 7-2 in doubles with one ranked win. Miami holds the all-time series between the two teams, winning 13 of the 15 matches played. Last season, the Hurricanes ended the NCAA Tournament for the Knights, with a 1-4 decision in the second round.
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