Alabama
UCF
No. 37 Alabama Prepares for First Round NCAA Tournament Matchup with No. 23 UCF
5/2/2019 9:28:00 AM | Women's Tennis
The Crimson Tide will take on UCF in the Tallahassee Regional on Friday at 1 p.m. CT
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The No. 37 Alabama women's tennis team is set to take on No. 23 UCF in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Friday at 1 p.m. CT. in the Tallahassee Regional at the Scott Speicher Tennis Center on the campus of Florida State University.
The two teams are battling to see who will advance to Saturday's second-round matchup against either No. 11 Florida State or South Alabama. Saturday's match time is slated for 4 p.m. CT.
The tournament birth is the 15th in program history after the Tide went 18-11 on the year with four wins over nationally-ranked opponents. The Tide enters the tournament after falling in a heart-breaker to then-No. 28 LSU, 4-3, in the second round of the 2019 Southeastern Conference Women's Tennis Championships.
Senior Andie Daniell has dominated in singles play, as the No. 36 player in the country she boasts a 24-9 in singles, including a 7-3 mark against top-125 foes. Daniell was named First Team All-SEC for the second-consecutive year and is No. 9 all-time in career singles wins at Alabama with 86. Junior Alba Cortina Pou has an impressive 16-5 record in dual match season, while junior Ann Selim sports a 15-6 singles record.
UCF (22-3) and Alabama will square off for the third time in program history and second time this season, after the last meeting on Feb. 15, the then-ranked No. 21 Knights took the 6-1 decision in Tuscaloosa. The Tide owns a 2-1 series advantage over the American Athletic Conference Champions, as prior to this season Alabama grabbed the first two matches.
Valeriya Zeleva and Ksenia Kuznetsova lead the Knights this dual match season as both are ranked in the latest Oracle/ITA singles and doubles rankings. As a pair, the teammates check in at No. 26 and have gone 12-4 on the season. Individually, No. 40 Zeleva earned the Most Outstanding Player Award in her latest performance at the American Athletic Conference championship tournament. Zeleva posts a 9-5 mark against ranked opponents, while No. 82 Kuznetsova holds a 13-4 record on court two this spring.
Get all the latest information on the team by following @AlabamaWTN on Twitter and Facebook and AlabamaWTN on Instagram. General athletic news can also be found at UA_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram and AlabamaAthletics on Facebook.
