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Three UCF Teams Clinch AAC Championship Wins, NCAA Tournament Berths in Two Weekends

Plus two first-time AAC titles!

From left to right: UCF men’s soccer, UCF women’s tennis and UCF men’s tennis celebrating their American Athletic Conference Championship wins. (Photos: Courtesy of UCF Athletics)
Courtesy of UCF Athletics

It’s been a busy two weeks for the UCF Knights: men’s soccer, women’s tennis and men’s tennis won an AAC championship, clinching automatic bids for their respective NCAA Tournaments. Two teams — men’s soccer and men’s tennis — earned titles for the first time in program history.

Volleyball also earned an AAC title earlier this month, for the second year in a row, until ultimately falling to High Point in the NCAA Tournament on April 14.

The last time multiple UCF teams earned a conference championship title in a season was in 2018-19 when women’s rowing, women’s tennis and football were able to show off the trophy and big signs. But that didn’t happen in the same month.

Women’s Tennis

On Sunday, the women’s tennis team clobbered Tulsa 4-1. The NCAA Tournament lineup won’t be announced until early May, but the Knights won’t have to travel far as the matches will be held at the USTA National Campus in Orlando on May 16-28.

This is the second AAC win in a row for UCF women’s tennis and the seventh in program history.

Men’s Soccer

Men’s soccer won its first AAC title in program history after being in the same position “four times in four years,” head coach Scott Calabrese said following the UCF’s 1-0 win against Tulsa on April 17. UCF fell to SMU three times in a row before finally winning the chip.

“It’s an incredible accomplishment given how the season started. A lot of what we were dealing with due to the uncertainty of COVID, things that took place, and then be able to win eight in a row just shows what these guys are about,” Calabrese said of the team that finished the regular season 8-3-1 after the teams 8-0 run following its 1-3 start to the season.

The Knights, who finished the regular season ranked No. 20 in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, will face James Madison in the first round of the College Cup on May 2 at 5 p.m. ET.

Men’s Tennis

Men’s tennis, who finished the regular season ranked No. 11 in the Oracle/ITA team rankings, won its first AAC title Saturday after stomping the USF Bulls 4-0. This is the fourth championship title in program history — before the team joined the American Athletic Conference, the Knights won three straight titles as part of the A-Sun in 2003-05.

The 2021 men’s tennis NCAA Tournament Selection Show is May 3.

Daniella Medina is a contributing writer for Black & Gold Banneret. Follow her on Twitter @danimedinanews.