Women's Tennis Set To Open Big 12 Action with a Duo of Home Matches

ORLANDO – After an impressive 7-1 non-conference showing, the No. 42 women’s tennis team is officially ready to kick off Big 12 conference play, beginning with a set of matches at the USTA National Campus.

The Knights will open their conference season against the No. 29 BYU Cougars on Thursday, Feb. 26,  at 6 PM, before taking on the No. 35 Utah Utes on Saturday, Feb. 28, at noon. 

LAST TIME OUT
The Black and Gold closed out their non-conference slate in a dominant fashion this past weekend, blanking the FAU Owls 4-0 on Friday evening before taking care of the Stetson Hatters 6-1 on Sunday.

Even with FAU striking first in doubles play, claiming court one with a 6-2 win over Marina Gatell and Jantje Tilbuerger, the Knights didn’t flinch. Daryna Shoshyna and Jade Psonka found their rhythm on court two, battling to a 6-3 win, leaving each team with one doubles court apiece.

All eyes then turned to court two, where Olivia Bergler and Lauren Seye delivered, coming out on top in a gritty 7-5 victory to clinch the doubles point and give the Black and Gold a 1-0 edge heading into singles.

The squad made quick work of the Owls from there, with Gatell taking court three in a 6-2, 6-1 win over Katrin Pavkova. Shortly after, Psonka closed out a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Lucia Cassidy on court six, remaining dominant from start to finish. But it was Seye who sealed the match, earning her first collegiate clinch in a 6-4, 6-1 win on court five.

The Knights displayed much of the same control on Sunday afternoon against Stetson, taking the edge in doubles play thanks to Seye and Bergler, along with the newly debuted duo of Psonka and Vladislava Andreevskaya. 

Although the Knights didn’t play to clinch, they cleanly took care of all singles courts, dropping the lone point of the day on court five, where Stetson’s Yuki Mizuguchi topped Seye 6-2, 6-3. The eventual 6-1 victory over the Hatters was highlighted by Bergler’s performance on court one, where, playing in just her second collegiate match on the court, she battled to a 7-5 7(7)-6(3) victory to end the day on a high note.  

QUICK HITS

• Senior captain Jantje Tilbuerger was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Feb. 17, 2026, after delivering a flawless performance at the No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles positions, going a perfect 4-0 combined against FIU and Miami. She boasts an impressive 6-1 singles record at the end of non-con. 
• Freshman Marina Gatell has played a key role in the Knights’ strong start to the season, compiling a 5-0 singles record and a 5-2 mark in doubles.
• UCF’s top-25 streak was snapped last week, slotting in at No. 39 in the Feb. 19, 2026 ITA Poll. Prior to that, the Knights appeared in the top-25 for 17 straight ITA polls.
• Olivia Bergler and Lauren Seye have emerged as one of the team’s most reliable doubles pairs early this season, consistently delivering decisive victories, highlighted by a 6-0 sweep of Florida State’s M.B. Deatherage and Cade Cricchio. Undefeated so far, they slotted in at No. 61 in the latest ITA Doubles Rankings (Feb. 19, 2026).
• Now in his 10th season at the helm, head coach Bryan Koniecko stands as the winningest in program with a total of 148 to his name at the end of the 2024-25 season. 
• The Knights have now won 16-straight matches on their home USTA courts. The group did not drop a single Big 12 home match last season and will look to continue the streak as it opens conference play this weekend.

THE OPPONENTS

BYU
BYU returned a veteran core this season, led by lone senior Kendall Kovick, who boasts an 8-2 mark on court two for the Cougars. Kovick, alongside YuYun Chen, also dominates court No. 2 in doubles action, holding a 5-2 record there. Among the new faces, freshman Bella Lewis has proven herself as a nice addition early in the season, holding down the back courts with a 9-1 mark between courts No. 5 and No. 6. The Cougars enter conference play on a nine-match winning streak, including an untarnished 5-0 road record.

Utah
The Utes return three seniors in Dylan Lolofie, Kaila Barksdale, and Emma Valletta, bringing veteran leadership to the lineup. Among the upperclassmen core is junior Emma Kamper, who has been the Utes' anchor on the top court during non-con action, boasting a 6-2 mark. Utah is led by second-year head coach Ruth Allen, a Utah native, former Utah All-American, and Hall of Famer. Allen returned to her alma mater after a successful stint at Weber State Wildcats, where she was named Big Sky Coach of the Year in 2022 and 2023.