The No. 25 ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ womenβs tennis team ran the court with its rival, USF, to clinch its first American Athletic Conference trophy and its first conference championship since 2002. The Knights did not drop a single match of the entire tournament, and with Sundayβs 4-0 victory, ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ captured its sixth conference championship in program history and an automatic bid to the 2019 NCAA Championship.
βIβm just so happy for them, especially for our senior (Natalia Serrano), you want her to leave the right way and we did that this year,β says head coach Bryan Koniecko. βUSF pushed us back a little bit late in the match, but weβre happy we clinched it. Iβm just ready for our next practice and hopefully the culture we set this year continues on.β
ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ redshirt sophomore Valeriya Zeleva was named the tournamentβs Most Outstanding Player after winning two singles matches in the tournament, including a straight-set victory against a nationally ranked Ana Roman Dominguez of USF. She also helped ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ claim the doubles point alongside partner Ksenia Kuznetsova against the Bulls in just 30 minutes.
βSheβs a stud. When she shows up and plays her game and she plays with passion, sheβs as good as anyone in the country,β Koniecko says.
As the No. 1 seed of the tournament, the Knights advanced to The Americanβs title match for the first time after dominant 4-0 wins over both Memphis and Tulsa in the earlier rounds. ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ became the third team to win the trophy since the conference began six years ago. Only USF and Tulsa had reigned as champion in years past.
Sundayβs victory brings ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½βs total to 22 this year, which ties the school record for most wins in a season (1995 and 1997).
The women’s tennis team became the fourth ΒιΆΉΣ³»΄«Γ½ squad this season to win a conference trophy, joining football, men’s soccer (regular season) and volleyball.
The 2019 NCAA Championship will be held May 16-25 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.
