UCF Athletics

Women's Tennis

UCF's Barrus, Serrano Take Weekly Tennis Honors

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – UCF senior Chris Barrus and sophomore Natalia Serrano have been chosen as the American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Players of the Week for the week-ending Feb. 19.
       
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE MEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Chris Barrus • Jr. • UCF
Barrus led UCF to a pair of dual match wins as he registered straight-set victories at No. 4 singles against Tennessee Tech and Florida Atlantic and was 1-0 at No. 2 doubles. Barrus was 6-2, 6-0 winner against Tennessee Tech and a 6-1, 6-2 winner against Florida Atlantic, helping the Knights to 6-1 victories against both opponents. The wins lifted UCF TO 6-1 on the dual match season. Barrus remained unbeaten in singles play in the 2017 dual match season, improving to 6-0, and improved to 4-1 in doubles play.
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Natalia Serrano • So. • UCF
Serrano won a pair of three-set decisions at No. 1 singles, and was 2-0 in doubles play, to lead UCF to dual match wins against North Florida and Florida Gulf Coast. She was a 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 winner against North Florida’s top player, who is ranked No. 83 in the ITA rankings, and took a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 winner against Florida Gulf Coast. She improved to 7-2 in singles and 9-0 in doubles in dual matches this season, helping the Knights to an 8-1 start to the 2017 season.
 
 
AROUND THE AMERICAN
Six American Athletic Conference men’s teams are ranked in the Oracle/ITA Division I men’s tennis rankings of Feb. 21. Tulane enters the ranking at No. 22, while SMU checks in at No. 29. USF is No. 39, Tulsa is No. 41 and Memphis is No. 44.
 
The Feb. 21 ITA men’s singles rankings have Tulsa’s Or Ram-Harel at No. 25, Tulane’s Constantin Schmitz at No. 37, SMU’s Ronald Slobodchikov at No. 46, SMU’s Hunter Johnson at No. 51, Memphis’ Andrew Watson at No. 82, USF’s Alberto Barroso-Campos at No. 83, UCF’s Korey Lovett at No. 93, Tulane’s Sebastian Rey at No. 110 and Memphis’ Ryan Peniston at No. 122.
 
The men’s doubles tandems in the Feb. 21 ITA rankings are Majed Kilani/Or Ram-Harel of Tulsa at No. 34 and Yates Johnson/Hunter Johnson of SMU at No. 42, and Sebastian Rey/Chi-Shan Jao at No. 59.
 
Tulsa’s women’s team is ranked No. 40, while UCF is No. 46 in the Feb. 21 Oracle/ITA Division I rankings.
 
The American Athletic Conference Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships will be held in April at the new USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida. The state-of-the-art complex features 10 courts and is the home site for USTA player development and the USTA’s community tennis division.
 

MEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
UCF (6-1) is ranked No. 48 in the Oracle/ITA Division I rankings of Feb. 21. UCF returned from a two-week layoff to score 6-1 wins against Tennessee Tech and Florida Atlantic last week, giving the Knights six wins in their first seven dual matches. Junior Korey Lovett has led the way for UCF thanks to a 6-1 record at No. 1 singles, while senior Chris Barrus is a combined 6-0 at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots, while junior Danny Kerznerman is 6-1, playing primarily at No. 6. The Knights face three opponents in three days during their road trip to Texas as UCF visits TCU, No. 29 SMU and No. 11 Baylor.
 
UConn (2-5) dropped a 7-0 decision at Temple in the Huskies’ only match from last week. Freshman Jacob Appleton has a team-high four dual match wins in singles play, primarily at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots. UConn will host Southern New Hampshire Friday before the Huskies head to Providence, Rhode Island, to face Brown Saturday.
 
East Carolina (9-1) continued its hot start to the 2017 dual match season as the Pirates were 4-3 winners against Temple and 7-0 winners against Delaware. Senior Fredric Lehfeldt stands at 8-1 at the No. 4 singles position to lead the Pirates. East Carolina has one match on this week’s docket, a Friday trip to Campbell.
 
Memphis (5-2), playing its first match in two weeks, picked up a 4-1 win at Indiana in the Tigers’ lone dual match from last week, helping the Tigers gain the No. 44 spot in the Feb. 21 Oracle/ITA rankings. The Tigers won at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles and took three of the four singles matches that went to completion as Felix Rauch and Jan Pallares were winners in both positions. Memphis heads to New England for a pair of matches this week, a Friday visit to Dartmouth and a Sunday matchup at Harvard.
 
USF (2-3), which is ranked No. 39 in the Oracle/ITA rankings, was idle last week. Freshman Alberto Barroso-Campos is off to a 4-1 start in singles play, primarily at the No. 3 and No. 4 positions. The Bulls begin a stretch of three straight home matches with Friday’s date against No. 25 Texas A&M and face Pepperdine Sunday.
 
SMU (6-2), which is ranked No. 29 in the Feb. 21 Oracle/ITA ranking, extended its winning streak to three matches with wins against Sacramento State (5-2) and Prairie View A&M (7-0) last week. The Mustangs won all six singles matches in straight sets against Prairie View A&M, while seniors Arkadijs Slobodkins and Julio Olaya were both 6-0, 6-0 winners. SMU visits UT Arlington Thursday before a home match against UCF Sunday.
 
Temple (4-5) split a pair of matches against its American Athletic Conference counterparts as the Owls fell 4-3 to East Carolina before taking a 7-0 win against UConn. Temple has three matches on tap for this week - a Wednesday trip to George Washington, a Friday matchup against Wagner and a Saturday match against Saint Francis (Pa.).
 
Tulane (7-1) is ranked No. 22 in the Oracle/ITA rankings of Feb. 21. The Green Wave has won its last four matches after a 4-2 victory at LSU. Junior Constantin Schmitz highlighted the win with a straight-set win at No. 1 singles in a matchup of nationally ranked players. Freshman Ewan Moore and sophomore Tyler Schick delivered the clinching wins in singles play as the Green Wave pulled away in a match that was tied 2-2. Tulane heads to Starkville, Mississippi, this week for a Friday match against No. 16 Mississippi State and a Saturday dual against North Carolina State.
 
Tulsa (4-6), which is ranked No. 41 in the Oracle/ITA ranking, was idle last week. The Golden Hurricane resumes play Friday with a road trip to No. 5 Oklahoma, which will complete a run of six nationally ranked opponents in Tulsa’s last seven matches.
 

WOMEN’S TENNIS UPDATE
 
UCF (8-1), which is ranked No. 46 in the Oracle/ITA rankings of Feb. 21, extended its winning streak to six matches after the Knights scored a 5-2 win at North Florida and took a 6-1 victory against Florida Gulf Coast last week. The win against North Florida saw the Knights win three three-set matches in singles, including a win at No. 1 by sophomore Natalia Serrano against the No. 83-ranked player nationally. UCF will host Florida Atlantic and Liberty this week.
 
Cincinnati (5-3) picked up its fifth dual match win of the season with a 7-0 decision at Toledo, but the Bearcats’ three-match winning streak ended with a 5-2 setback at Michigan State. The doubles tandem of Kelly Poggensee-Wei/Lauren Bellinger has won its last four matches at the No. 1 position and is 6-2 on the year. The duo won both of their respective singles matches last week as well. Cincinnati heads to Tucson, Arizona, this week for a Friday matchup against New Mexico and a Saturday date with Arizona.
 
UConn (4-4) suffered 4-3 setbacks to Drexel and Temple in the Huskies’ trip to Philadelphia last weekend, bringing UConn back to .500 for the season. Junior Yelyzaveta Pletnyeva continued her strong start to the season with a pair of singles wins, improving her to 7-1 in dual matches at No. 2. The Huskies will host Cornell Sunday.
 
East Carolina (3-3) had its third straight weekend split as the Pirates fell 7-0 at Old Dominion before bouncing back for a 5-2 win against UNC Greensboro. East Carolina will host Coastal Carolina Friday before the Pirates visit Virginia Commonwealth Saturday.
 
Houston (4-4) dropped a pair of matches in Louisiana last weekend as the Cougars fell by 4-1 scores at Tulane and LSU. Tsveta Dimitrova and Sveva Mazzari have both turned in 4-2 singles marks, with Dimitrova at the No. 1 spot and Mazzari at No. 2. The Cougars’ eight-match road swing heads to the Pacific Northwest this week with dual matches against Washington and Oregon.
 
Memphis (3-3), which had not competed in two weeks, fell 4-0 to Missouri and 4-3 to Minnesota in the Tigers’ return to action last week. Freshman Katherine Cao leads the squad with four singles wins, thanks to a 4-1 record at the No. 5 spot. Memphis continues its stretch of six straight matches away from home Saturday at Mississippi.
 
USF (4-5) dropped a pair of matches on its road trip to Louisiana last week as the Bulls fell 6-1 at LSU and 4-3 at Tulane. Junior Juliana Cardoso and sophomore Ana Roman Dominguez lead the Bulls with six singles wins each as Roman Dominguez has gone 6-3 at No. 1 and Cardoso is 6-3 playing throughout the ladder. USF is off until a March 4 matchup with North Florida in Tampa.
 
SMU (6-1) picked up its sixth win of the season with a 6-1 victory against Texas A&M Corpus Christi, but the Mustangs suffered their first loss of the year with a 7-0 setback at Oklahoma. Senior Dasha Sharapova leads the team with a 6-1 singles record, playing in the middle of the lineup. The Mustangs visit No. 14 Texas A&M Friday before playing the first of 10 straight home matches with a doubleheader against Nevada and UT Permian Basin Sunday.
 
Temple (6-4) dropped a 6-1 decision to Georgetown, but answered with a 4-3 victory against UConn last week. Temple hosts James Madison Friday and Saint Francis (Pa.) Saturday.
 
Tulane (10-2) has won four of its last five matches after the Green Wave scored wins against Houston (4-1) and USF (4-3) last week. Junior Sade Atkinson scored the clinching point against USF with a three-set victory at No. 3 singles. Freshman Christina Sisti continues to anchor the bottom of the ladder with a 7-0 mark at No. 6 singles and a 2-1 showing at No. 5. Tulane hosts No. 28 LSU Wednesday before beginning play in the 69th annual Blue Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Alabama.
 
Tulsa (9-2), which is ranked No. 40 in the Oracle/ITA ranking of Feb. 21, has won its last three dual matches after the Golden Hurricane took a 4-1 win at Oklahoma last week. Marcelina Cichon leads the team with a 9-1 dual match record in singles play, primarily at the No. 6 spot. Tulsa’s only action this week will be at the 69th annual Blue Gray National Tennis Classic in Montgomery, Alabama. Tulsa will join Tulane, Alabama, No. 8 Auburn, Denver, No. 47 Texas and No. 5 Texas Tech in the annual event.

This Week In The American
MEN                                                                                                                           
Wednesday, Feb. 22 Temple at George Washington 12:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 23 SMU at UT Arlington TBD
Friday, Feb. 24 East Carolina at Campbell 1 p.m.
Texas A&M at USF 2 p.m.
Tulane at Mississippi State 4 p.m.
Wagner at Temple 5:30 p.m.
Southern New Hampshire at UConn 6:30 p.m.
Memphis at Dartmouth 6:30 p.m.
Tulsa at Oklahoma 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 25 Saint Francis (Pa.) at Temple 2 p.m.
Tulane vs. North Carolina State (Starkville, Miss.) 2 p.m.
UCF at TCU 5 p.m.
UConn at Brown 6 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 26 UCF at SMU 1 p.m.
Pepperdine at USF Noon
Memphis at Harvard 2 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 27 UCF at Baylor 4 p.m.
                                      
WOMEN                                                                                                                     
Wednesday, Feb. 22 LSU at Tulane 3 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 24 Cincinnati vs. New Mexico (Tucson, Ariz.) 1 p.m.
Coastal Carolina at East Carolina 1 p.m.
Houston at Washington 4 p.m
SMU at Texas A&M 5 p.m.
James Madison at Temple 5:30 p.m.
Tulane at Blue Gray National Tennis Classic TBD
Tulsa at Blue Gray National Tennis Classic TBD
Saturday, Feb. 25 East Carolina at Virginia Commonwealth Noon
Cincinnati at Arizona 2 p.m.
Memphis at Mississippi 2 p.m.
Saint Francis (Pa.) at Temple 2 p.m.
Tulane at Blue Gray National Tennis Classic TBD
Tulsa at Blue Gray National Tennis Classic TBD
Sunday, Feb. 26 Cornell at UConn 11 a.m.
Nevada at SMU 11 a.m.
Houston at Oregon Noon
UT Permian Basin at SMU 6 p.m.
 
 
all times Eastern