ORLANDO – The UCF women’s tennis team remained at No. 24 in the latest Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) rankings, released Wednesday, following a successful opening weekend at the USTA National Campus.
The Knights opened the 2026 dual-match season with a bang this past weekend, securing a 4-1 victory over South Florida on Sunday, Jan. 18. After dropping the doubles point, the squad rallied back with four straight singles wins to secure the match and extend its home winning streak to 14.
After a nearly two-hour weather delay following doubles play on Sunday, the Black and Gold returned to the courts ready to rebound in singles. Daryna Shoshyna set the tone quickly with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 win over Melisa Senli, followed by a 6-3, 6-2 victory from Jantje Tilbuerger against Margherita Marcon on court three.
Momentum carried across the remaining courts as UCF closed out the match swiftly. Jade Psonka had just earned the third point with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Amelie Drukerova on court six, when just moments later, Marina Gatell clinched the victory with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Francesca Miglio on court four.
The Knights remain as one of four Big 12 programs ranked in the top 25, joined by Oklahoma State (No. 10), Texas Tech (No. 21) and Baylor (No. 25). The full Jan. 21 ITA rankings are listed at the bottom of this page.
LOOKING AHEAD
UCF is gearing up to travel to Baton Rouge, La., this upcoming weekend for ITA Kickoff Weekend at the LSU Tennis Complex. The Knights open play Saturday, Jan. 24, against No. 18 UCLA, looking to snag their first upset of the season. With a win, the squad would advance to face either unranked Marshall or host No. 5 LSU.
The Knights will officially begin Big 12 play with a duo of home matches, facing BYU on Thursday, Feb. 26, and Utah on Saturday, Feb. 28. You can view the full 2026 dual-match schedule here.
ITA PRESEASON POLL (Jan. 21, 2026)
|
RANK |
TEAM |
|
1 |
Georgia |
|
2 |
Texas A&M |
|
3 |
North Carolina |
|
4 |
Auburn |
|
5 |
LSU |
|
6 |
Oklahoma |
|
7 |
Michigan |
|
8 |
Duke |
|
9 |
Stanford |
|
10 |
Oklahoma State |
|
11 |
NC State |
|
12 |
Ohio State |
|
13 |
Pepperdine |
|
14 |
Virginia |
|
15 |
California |
|
16 |
Tennessee |
|
17 |
Texas |
|
18 |
UCLA |
|
19 |
Vanderbilt |
|
20 |
USC |
|
21 |
Texas Tech |
|
22 |
Washington |
|
23 |
Florida |
|
24 |
UCF |
|
25 |
Baylor |