No. 14 Men's Tennis Primed for Home Matches Against BYU and Utah

ORLANDO – The No. 12 men’s tennis team is set to compete in two home competitions this week beginning with the BYU Cougars on Thursday evening at the USTA National Campus.

The Knights will then turn their attention to the Utah Utes who will travel to The City Beautiful for a noon match on Saturday, March 21.

LAST TIME OUT

UCF opened its Big 12 slate in impressive fashion, rallying past Texas Tech for a 4-1 victory at home on Friday. After dropping the doubles point amid lineup adjustments, the Knights stormed into singles looking to bounce back, sweeping all six opening sets. Mehdi Benchakroun sparked the comeback with a dominant 6-0, 6-3 win, quickly followed by commanding straight‑set victories from Paul Colin and Clement Lemire to flip the match in UCF’s favor.

With a 3-1 lead for the Knights, the remaining courts tightened, but it was Wissam Abderrahman who delivered the clincher on court two, outlasting Tyler Stewart 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to secure UCF’s first Big 12 win of the season. With the win, the Black and Gold moved to 15-2 on the season and began conference play at 1-0.

QUICK HITS

• TRIPLE DIGITS: With wins in both doubles and singles in this year’s non-conference finale, Benchakroun reached a remarkable career milestone, becoming a 100‑match winner across the two categories. Even more impressively, every one of those victories has come during his tenure in Black and Gold. Now in his final Big 12 campaign, the senior captain carries that century mark into one of the most competitive leagues across collegiate tennis
• PERFECTION AT USTA: UCF dominated its early slate with a perfect 10-0 mark in non-conference play at the USTA National Campus and has now extended that streak to 11-0 after its Big 12 opener. Five of those victories came via clean sweeps against the Knights’ competition. The Black and Gold secured five wins over in‑state foes and added two ranked victories to bolster an already impressive resume.
• AROUND THE LEAGUE: The Knights are among some of the best in the Big 12 as all but one program appear in the ITA rankings. UCF sits just behind TCU, now up to No. 2, and Baylor at No. 9 in the latest rankings. The conference remains one of the deepest in college tennis, with additional ranked programs including Arizona (15), Arizona State (25), Oklahoma State (36), BYU (53), and Texas Tech (75). The Knights will now face a ranked opponent in nearly every remaining matchup, with Utah standing as their lone unranked foe.

ABOUT THE COUGARS

The Cougars, led by Head Coach Zack Warren, are coming off their best win at home all season after besting No. 35 Ohio State, 4-2. BYU has yet to win a road Big 12 match since joining the conference in 2023. This season, their roster is led by junior Tygen Goldammer who boasts a 13-1 record this season while freshman Caden Hasler is finding his footing in collegiate tennis at 8-2. The Cougars are currently 13-3 overall while sitting at 1-1 in conference play.

ABOUT THE UTES

Utah is coached by Roeland Brateanu who is in his 12^th season at the helm. This season, the Utes post a 4-11 overall record and began Big 12 play at 0-2. Utah returned two seniors to their program, highlighted by Dante Teramo who posted a 10-4 singles record throughout the middle courts, going undefeated on four at 6-0. The Knights will see a familiar face in transfer Simeon Terziev who returns after a year with UCF.

ABOUT UCF ATHLETICS
UCF is a proud member of the Big 12 Conference. Our mission is to positively transform the lives of our students academically, athletically, and personally through a nationally competitive intercollegiate athletics program that enhances the reputation and visibility of the University. We strive to be Florida's preeminent athletic program, representing UCF and our community with distinction on the national stage as "Orlando's Hometown Team". To learn more about UCF and Athletics, please visit our websites at www.ucf.edu and www.ucfknights.com.