The BYU women’s tennis team, seeded ninth and ranked No. 37 nationally, will play against top-seeded and No. 20-ranked University of Central Florida in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Women’s Tennis Championship on April 16 at the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida.
This match follows BYU’s recent victory over eighth-seeded Utah with a score of 4-2 in the opening round. With this win, BYU has built momentum as it seeks a spot in the semifinals and aims for an upset against UCF, which is currently considered one of the strongest teams in the conference.
BYU enters this contest with a season record of 19 wins and seven losses overall, including eight wins out of fourteen matches played within Big 12 competition. The team has performed well both at home and away, recording an eight-two home record and winning three out of four matches at neutral venues. Key players contributing to BYU’s performance include Sue Yan Tan, Sage Bergeson, YuYun Chen, Kendall Kovick, Bella Lewis, and junior Gracie Levelston. Levelston is ranked No. 109 nationally by ITA singles rankings and holds a personal record of twenty wins to seven losses while playing mainly at the number one position.
On the other side, UCF comes into this quarterfinal with eighteen wins and three losses overall along with an eleven-two conference mark. The Knights have not lost any home matches this season (nine-zero), have won eight out of ten road games, and split their two neutral site contests. Their lineup features Jantje Tilbuerger—ranked No.115 by ITA—who has compiled fifteen victories from sixteen dual matches this year including a twelve-match winning streak to close out regular play.
These teams met earlier on February twenty-sixth when then-No.29 BYU lost to then-No.39 UCF by a scoreline of four-one on these same courts in Orlando.
The upcoming match is expected to feature a key individual battle between Levelston for BYU and Tilbuerger for UCF as both are nationally ranked competitors aiming to help their teams advance further into tournament play.
