ORLANDO - A historic three-day campaign in Waco, Texas, at the program’s inaugural ITA Indoor Championship, has led to yet another advancement in the rankings, with the UCF men’s tennis team soaring to 11th in the nation.
Announced Thursday afternoon, the Knights jumped 10 spots after their triumph over No. 4 Ohio State and a pair of hard-fought performances against No. 11 Stanford and No. 9 San Diego.
Our third-highest ranking in program history 🔥
— UCF Men's Tennis (@UCF_MTennis) February 20, 2025
🗞️ https://t.co/FYl8eewKaX pic.twitter.com/n1dhbjTjsW
Each of those teams also rose in the latest edition, with the Buckeyes now third in the country, followed by the Cardinal’s in sixth and the Toreros at No. 7.
The placement matches three 11th-place rankings in 2021, serving as the third-highest in program history. For head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess and assistant Kareem Allaf, the rank is the best of their two-year tenure, becoming the first staff in UCF men's tennis history to land among the top 15 in just under 20 months on the job.
Trailing ITA Indoor Championship runners-up TCU who fell to second, the Knights are the second-highest ranked team in the Big 12, leading No. 14 Arizona and No. 18 Baylor in the top-25.
Two catalysts for the squad’s win over Ohio State were among the top 125 in singles, with Mehdi Benchakroun improving to No. 106 while reigning Big 12 Player of the Week Yassine Dlimi debuted at No. 100 after defeating 14th-ranked Aidan Kim in straight sets.
While not the first singles rank for Dlimi in his career, the junior split six sets against three players in the top 18 in a brilliant stretch of play for the captain on court one.
UP NEXT
UCF will open a seven-game homestand this weekend at the USTA National Campus, welcoming UAB (Friday at 6 p.m.) and No. 71 Stetson (Sunday at 6 p.m.).