ORLANDO - Two more matches on the road stand in the way of the UCF men's tennis team before they round off regular season conference play. It will look to finish on a streak of wins after they take on Oklahoma State for the second time this season at 1 p.m. on Friday before traveling to Lubbock to face No. 70 Texas Tech on Sunday at 3 p.m.
The Knights have proven their resilience throughout the Big 12 season, bouncing back with a win every Sunday after dropping their opening match each weekend. Head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess has reason to believe that this weekend will be different as the team rounded off last weekend with a 4-0 sweep over No. 35 Arizona State. UCF’s form has kept them within the top 20 in Tuesday’s ITA rankings, coming in at number 18.
LAST TIME OUT
UCF had a steep hill to climb at home against No. 16 Baylor last Friday, missing out on the doubles point and dropping the first set across five courts afterward. Nicolas Oliviera showed signs of life for the Knights, prevailing in an intense 10-8 tiebreak to take his first set on court five. No. 86 Mehdi Benchakroun joined him as the only Knights to win a set, snatching his second set against Oscar Brostrom Poulsen, 6-3, before going unfinished.
The Knights flipped the script in their next bout against Arizona State, valiantly protecting their home court in their last conference game of the season at the USTA National Campus with a 4-0 sweep of their own. They only allowed the Sun Devils to take just one set across all six courts in singles play, bringing the Black and Gold even on their Big 12 record of 3-3. No. 77 Yassine Dlimi had a standout performance on Sunday after a close battle against Baylor’s No. 36 Devin Badenhorst didn’t go his way. He displayed a relentless style of play before his match came to close early when Arizona State’s Mathis Bondaz was forced to retire, 6-0, 4-0.
Sweeping ‘em back home 🧹
— UCF Men's Tennis (@UCF_MTennis) April 6, 2025
🚀 NAUTS WIN 🚀 pic.twitter.com/rZ9nSidDEj
QUICK HITS
- Benchakroun climbed up five spots in the singles rankings after making the most of his matches on the weekend. The two-time Big 12 Player of the Week now sits 81st behind his ranked teammate Dlimi, who held on to his position in 77th. Benchakroun’s stalemate against Baylor’s Poulsen went unfinished, 2-6, 6-3, 3-3, but he followed up by taking court two against Arizona State’s Nicola Cigna with ease, 6-2, 6-2.
- Dlimi’s performance against Arizona State means that he now joins his Moroccan compatriot Benchakroun as the only Knights this season to win a match in singles play without giving up a single game. Earlier this season, Benchakroun won his court three match against Louisiana, 6-0, 6-0.
- UCF appeared in the doubles rankings for the first time this season thanks to Liam Branger and Paul Colin, who slotted in at No. 56. Their four consecutive wins together have featured court-one triumphs over No. 10 Arizona and No. 11 Stanford. They sit sixth out of 12 ranked pairings from the Big 12.
Checking in at No. 18 in the latest @ITA_Tennis Rankings 🫡 pic.twitter.com/9RBreH3CKi
— UCF Men's Tennis (@UCF_MTennis) April 8, 2025
THE OPPONENTS
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are neck and neck with the Knights in their head-to-head record with four wins for each. UCF handed them a 4-0 sweep earlier this season in their opening match of ITA Kickoff Weekend. Oklahoma State will also head into this bout coming off of a loss against Baylor, scoring only one point in its 4-1 defeat thanks to No. 107 Isaac Becroft from court one.
Sitting second from the bottom in the Big 12 standings, the Cowboys have only managed to tally one win in conference play. They beat BYU 4-3 in their conference Opener, who now sit last in the Big 12 standings.
Texas Tech
Currently on a three-match losing streak, Texas Tech has been outscored in its last three matches 12-1. UCF has taken the victory in their last two matches against the Red Raiders, winning in Texas, 4-3, in 2020 and doubling it up with a 4-2 win at home last season.
Texas Tech has steadily held ranking throughout the season, hovering around their current spot at No. 70. They recently fell from their highest ranking this year of 67th in this week's edition.