No. 11 Men's Tennis Travels to BYU and Utah for First Big 12 RoadtripNo. 11 Men's Tennis Travels to BYU and Utah for First Big 12 Roadtrip
Edward Finan / UCF Athletics

No. 11 Men's Tennis Travels to BYU and Utah for First Big 12 Roadtrip

by Alex Clough

ORLANDO - After splitting a pair of top-10 matchups in Orlando to open Big 12 play, the No. 11 UCF men’s tennis team will embark on its first road trip in over a month, traveling west for contests at BYU and No. 52 Utah.

Each meeting marks the second all-time between the program’s, as the Knights (15-5, 1-1) will be in for a pair of difficult contests at altitude. The Cougars (11-4, 0-2) have been in and out of the ITA rankings this season, dropping both of their conference openers last weekend, while the Utes (13-5, 2-0) continue their climb following a 4-1 triumph over Texas Tech.

LAST TIME OUT

With 4-3 clinch wins being a staple of head coach Lloyd Bruce-Burgess’ tenure at UCF, it was only fitting that the Knights secured their first Big 12 win of the season in a dramatic winner-take-all tiebreak over No. 10 Arizona. Dominating the doubles point once again, the Black and Gold secured wins on courts two through four, headlined by Mehdi Benchakroun’s valiant triumph over ninth-ranked Jay Friend to tally the squad’s second win over the Wildcats this season.

Two days prior, the Knights took the doubles point and four first sets in singles against reigning national champions TCU, however, the second-ranked Horned Frogs weathered the UCF charge to take the match, 4-2.

QUICK HITS

  • Prior to Lloyd Bruce-Burgess’ arrival to the UCF men’s tennis program in the summer of 2023, the Knights played 838 matches at the DI level without a top-10 win. Now, just 45 duels into his tenure and across a 14-match stretch, they have three.
  • Mehdi Benchakroun tallied the highest-ranked win by a Knight since Gabriel Decamps defeated Georgia’s ninth-ranked Trent Bryde in 2021.
  • UCF has maintained strong performance on courts three through five all season, collecting a combined 38-13 record. Five separate Knights have secured wins on courts four and five, while court three has been vital in each of the squad’s top 10 wins.
  • Santiago Giamichelle sits just one win away from 100 combined singles and doubles victories in his career, a great achievement as the junior is in just his third collegiate season. 63 of those wins have come since arriving to UCF, as the Argentinian native has lost just five singles duals matches to his 22 wins.

THE OPPONENTS

BYU - Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET

Last year’s contest between the Cougars and Knights, the first all-time, was a highlight for the team’s historic 2024 campaign. Down multiple match points, Paul Colin battled back to secure a 4-3 win for UCF, making for an anticipated rematch in the mountains.

A difficult 4-3 defeat in Stillwater to Oklahoma State preceded another loss to Texas Tech in Lubbock, 4-1. While the Cowboys (Knights win, 4-0) serve as the only common opponent between the two squads, both will author similar lineups to last year’s contest.

Utah - Sunday at 3 p.m. ET

A lone meeting in 2007 in which UCF won, 6-1, is the only history between these two programs. The Utes have won five of their last six, including a strong triumph over Texas Tech where they secured wins on courts one, three and four.

Berk Bugarikj leads the team on court one and is ranked 97th in the nation, while Reid Jarvis and Dante Carlos Teramo sit at No. 52 in the doubles edition.