The No. 49 UCF men's tennis team (8-11) will travel to Birmingham to face off against the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The Wednesday matchup will begin at 11 a.m.
STATE OF THE KNIGHTS
The Knights are coming off a dominant week after defeating AAC rivals Tulane and USF. Last Wednesday, the Knights soundly defeated No. 41 Tulane, 4-0. Liam Branger and Paul Colin won their first collegiate doubles matchup together, while Yassine Dlimi and Francisco Llanes won their second doubles matchup this year. In singles competition, the Knights dominated, as No. 89 Bogdan Pavel, Lleyton Cronje, and Dlimi each got a singles victory. The War on I-4 resulted in a hard-fought win for the Knights, as they defeated No. 58 South Florida, 4-3. Although the Knights dropped the doubles point, Singles victories from Pavel, Cronje, Dlimi, and No. 124 Liam Branger propelled the Black and Gold to victory.
With his singles victories this past week, Bogdan Pavel is the first Knight to reach 10 singles wins on the year. Yassine Dlimi has won his last five finished matchups and has improved his record to 8-4. Liam Branger and Lleyton Cronje now have seven singles victories each this season.
THE OPPONENTS
The UAB Blazers enter Wednesday's matchup with a 16-5 record. The Blazers are on a four-game win streak, which includes a 4-2 win over Chattanooga in their last matchup. In singles competition, UAB is led by senior Michal Lusovsky (14-2) and sophomore Noah Malige (13-2). Other notable players include Roman Postolka (9-4) and Carlos Gimenez Perez (8-3). In doubles competition, UAB features two separate duos who each have a record of 7-3, Roman Postolka/Parker Bardbary, and Georgios Nouchakis/Michal Lusovsky.
