ORLANDO, Fla. – The top three seeds won quarterfinal matches in the American Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Championship Friday as UCF, SMU and Tulsa advanced to the semifinals, where they will be joined by No. 5-seeded Houston, the only lower-seeded team to get a win at the USTA National Campus.
 
Saturday’s semifinal round will have No. 46 Tulsa against No. 40 SMU at 10:30 a.m. ET, while Houston takes on No. 8 UCF at 11 a.m. ET.
 
Complete coverage of The American Tennis Championships, including live scoring of each match, can be found on the conference’s Championship Central site. Live coverage of the women’s and men’s finals will be available on ESPN+.
 
 
Tulsa 4, Memphis 1
Records: Tulsa (14-6), Memphis (6-14)
 
Tulsa took four straight singles matches after dropping the doubles point as the Golden Hurricane advanced to The American Championship semifinals for the sixth consecutive year with a 4-1 win against Memphis Friday morning.
 
Tulsa, which improved to 13-2 all-time in The American Championship got straight-set wins in singles from Valeriya Rozenkova at No. 5 and Laia Conde Monfort at No. 2.
 
A battle of nationally ranked players at the top of the singles ladder went Tulsa’s way as No. 88 Martina Okalova topped No. 79 Sophie Abrams in three sets, 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, giving Tulsa a 3-1 lead.
 
The Golden Hurricane clinched the match when Vera Ploner scored a 7-3 (6), 7-5 win at No. 4 singles.
 
Memphis had taken the doubles point with wins at the No. 1 and No. 2 positions.
 
 
SMU 4, Wichita State 0
Records: SMU (21-9), Wichita State (10-16)
 
SMU won a closely contested doubles point and went on to take three singles wins in straight-sets to advance past Wichita State Friday morning.
 
Claudia Bartolome, Nichole Petchey and Winslow Huth were all winners in both singles and doubles to send the Mustangs to the American Athletic Conference Championship semifinals for the sixth straight year. The Mustangs improved to 9-6 all-time in the tournament.
 
Petchey and Huth paired for a 6-4 win at No. 3 doubles, and the Mustangs clinched the doubles point with a 7-5 win at No. 2 from Bartolome and Chandler Carter.
 
The Mustangs quickly made it 2-0 in singles play as No. 102 Jackie Nylander cruised to a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 1. Bartolome and Petchey capped the sweep with wins at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively. Petchey ended the match with her 6-2, 6-4 victory.
 
 
Houston 4, Tulane 2
Records: Houston (15-7), Tulane (13-9)
 
Azul Pedemonti took a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory at No. 5 singles to clinch Houston’s 4-2 win against Tulane Friday, sending the Cougars to The American Championship semifinals for the first time since 2016.
 
Pedemonti’s win came as the Cougars and Green Wave were potentially headed to a third-set tiebreaker on the No. 1 court as Tulane’s Mackenzie Clark led Houston’s Mimi Kendall-Woseley 6-5 in the third set. But Pedemonti was able to close out her third set to end the match.
 
Tulane had won the doubles point to build a 1-0 lead, but the Cougars quickly tied the match in singles as Laura Sisane was a 6-0, 6-1 winner at No. 2. Bianca Cortijo followed with a 6-3, 6-1 win at No. 6, and Sophie Gerits took a 6-4, 6-3 decision at No. 3 to make it 3-1.
 
The Green Wave closed to within one when Adelaide Lavery took Court 4 with a 7-6 (6), 6-4 decision, leaving only the No. 1 and No. 5 courts up for grabs.
 
Houston will make its fourth appearance in the semifinals. The Cougars reached the championship final in 2014 and 2015 and fell in the semifinals in 2016.
 
 
UCF 4, USF 1
Records: UCF (16-4), USF (8-15)
 
Top-seeded and No. 8-ranked UCF was impressive in its opening match of The American Championship as the Knights scored a 4-1 win against USF Friday afternoon.
 
The win sends UCF to the semifinals for the third straight year as the Knights look for their second consecutive appearance in the championship final.
 
Rebeka Stolmar and Nandini Sharma won in both singles and doubles as they paired for the clinching win at No. 3 doubles and took straight-set wins in singles play. Stolmar, ranked No. 30 nationally, scored a 6-4, 6-1 win at the top of the ladder, while Sharma was a 6-2, 6-2 winner at No. 6 to stake the Knights to a 3-0 lead.
 
Grace Schumacher put the Bulls on the board with a 6-2, 6-3 win against No. 99 Evgeniya Levashova, but Jaleesa Leslie ended the match with a 6-4, 6-3 decision at No. 5 singles.
 
 
 
2021 AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
April 22-25 | USTA National Campus | Orlando, Florida
 

First Round | Thursday, April 22
No. 8 USF 4, No. 9 Cincinnati 1
Quarterfinals | Friday, April 23
No. 3 Tulsa 4, No. 6 Memphis 1
No. 2 SMU 4, No. 7 Wichita State 0
No. 5 Houston 4, No. 4 Tulane 2
No. 1 UCF 4, USF 1
Semifinals | Saturday, April 24
Tulsa (14-6) vs. SMU (21-9)	10:30 a.m.
Houston (15-7) vs. UCF (16-4)	11 a.m.
Final | Sunday, April 25 | ESPN+
Semifinal winners	Noon

 
 
 
all times Eastern