No. 17 Women's Tennis Welcomes Houston for Home FinaleNo. 17 Women's Tennis Welcomes Houston for Home Finale
Michael O'Sullivan / UCF Athletics

No. 17 Women's Tennis Welcomes Houston for Home Finale

by Alex Clough

ORLANDO - The Big 12 leading No. 17 UCF women’s tennis team is set to welcome Houston to the USTA National Campus on Saturday afternoon for a home-finale contest. 

Having tallied nine conference wins through 10 matches, the Knights (17-2, 9-1) sit just one win away from an undefeated regular season at home. The Cougars (4-12, 1-9) recently picked up their first Big 12 win of the season over Cincinnati, as they will look to continue their form on the final stretch.

LAST TIME OUT

UCF dropped just one point across a pair of dominating wins last weekend against Cincinnati and West Virginia. With just one loss in singles play, the Knights were efficient throughout, grabbing early leads via brilliant play from Olivia Bergler and Donatella Guarnieri on court three, preceding the front three’s prowess to go a combined 5-0.

Olivia Lincer and the aforementioned Bergler each swept their court one and three bouts, while Jade Psonka provided the clinch against the Mountaineers to tally the Knights’ sixth sweep of the campaign.

QUICK HITS

  • French native and four-year Knight Sophia Biolay will be honored on Saturday afternoon. The senior has been enjoying her best season to date in Orlando, boasting a brilliant 14-1 record in singles dual matches. Biolay reached the century mark in combined singles and doubles wins, while also riding a 13-match winning streak, which ranks second in program history.
  • Freshman Olivia Bergler is riding a four-match win streak, having gone unbeaten in her last six contests. The Polish natives' 12 singles wins rank second on the team.
  • The Knights remain unplayable on courts one through three, producing a combined 41-4 record. In conference play, UCF has swept the front three on four occasions and is 10-0 when claiming court one.

THE OPPONENT

After losing its first nine conference contests, Houston finally jumped into the win column with a 4-2 triumph over Cincinnati at home last weekend. With just four wins on the season, the Cougars sit in a tie for last in the Big 12.

Houston is led by Santa Strombacha on court one who boasts an impressive 5-3 record. On courts two and three, however, the Cougars hold a combined 3-19 record.