ORLANDO, Fla. – Three of the four teams to earn first-round byes came away with wins Thursday as UCF, USF, Tulsa and SMU won their respective quarterfinal matches in the American Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Championship at the USTA National Campus.
 
UCF and Tulsa scored shutout wins in their first matches of this year’s championship, while USF held off upset-minded Cincinnati. SMU was the only team that played Wednesday to win again Thursday as the Mustangs knocked off Houston in the quarterfinals.
 
The four winning teams advance to Friday’s semifinal round at the USTA National Campus. The start times for Friday’s matches have been moved to 11 a.m. and 2 p.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 Saturday’s women’s final will be available on the American Digital Network.
 
 
UCF 4, Memphis 0
Records: UCF (20-3), Memphis (13-10)
UCF’s three scorers in singles dropped only eight games between them as the top-seeded Knights impressed their home crowd in a 4-0 win against No. 8-seeded Memphis Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the American Championship.
 
UCF, which is ranked No. 25 nationally and looking for its first American title in women’s tennis, advances to the semifinal round, where the Knights will face Tulsa Friday at 11 a.m. ET.
 
The Knights rode a strong showing in doubles, taking a 6-2 win at No. 2 and a 6-0 victory at No. 3, to an efficient performance in singles play. Marie Mattel gave UCF a 2-0 lead with a 6-0, 6-1 win at No. 4 singles, while Rebeka Stolmar added a 6-3, 6-0 victory at No. 3. Nandini Sharma ended any hopes of a Memphis comeback with her 6-1, 6-3 decision at No. 6 singles.
 
UCF, which is playing as the No. 1 seed for the second straight season, looks to reach the final round of the American Championship for the first time.
 
 
 
Tulsa 4, Wichita State 0
Records: Tulsa (15-9), Wichita State (13-10)
The top three players in Tulsa’s singles lineup came away with straight-set victories Thursday as the Golden Hurricane took a 4-0 win against Wichita State in the quarterfinal round of the American Women’s Tennis Championship.
 
Tulsa’s Martina Okalova and Vera Ploner, who comprise the Golden Hurricane’s No. 1 doubles team, won a 6-0 decision at No. 1 and added wins in singles play to account for three of the four team points. The duo, ranked No. 17 in the Oracle/ITA doubles rankings, blanked Wichita State’s No. 21-ranked tandem of Marta Bellucco and Fatima Bizhukova.
 
Okalova followed with a 6-2, 6-2 singles win against Bizhukova in a battle of nationally ranked players. Tulsa’s Martha Matoula added a 6-4, 6-3 win at No. 2 to set the stage for Ploner, who completed the shutout with a 6-3, 6-4 victory at No. 3.
 
Tulsa, seeded No.4 in the tournament, advances to the semifinal round for the fifth straight year as the Golden Hurricane eyes its fifth appearance in the final.
 
Tulsa will face top-seeded UCF Friday at 11 a.m. ET in the semifinal round.
 
 
SMU 4, Houston 1
Records: SMU (11-11), Houston (14-7)
Vivienne Kulicke’s straight-set win at No. 1 singles staked SMU to an early 2-0 lead as the Mustangs scored a 4-1 win against Houston Thursday, sending SMU to the semifinal round of the American Championship for the fourth consecutive season.
 
Kulicke, ranked No. 121 nationally, was a 6-3, 6-1 winner at No. 1 as the No. 6-seeded Mustangs topped the No. 3-seeded Cougars.
 
SMU won the doubles point by getting 6-1 wins at the No. 1 and No. 3 positions. After Kulicke gave the Mustangs a 2-0 lead, Ana Perez-Lopez made it 3-0 with a 6-3, 6-2 win at No. 4 singles.
 
Houston got on the board on Phonexay Chitdara’s win at No. 5 singles, but the Mustangs ended the match when Karina Traxler won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 3.
 
SMU, which advanced to last year’s championship final, has won five of its last six matches in the American Championship. The Mustangs will face USF Friday at 2 p.m. ET in the semifinals.
 
 
USF 4, Cincinnati 2
Records: USF (12-10), Cincinnati (12-11)
Alexandira Mjos won a straight-set decision at No. 5 singles to clinch USF’s 4-2 win against Cincinnati Thursday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the American Championship.
 
The Bulls, seeded No. 2 in the tournament, won the doubles point and took three of the five completed singles matches to hold off the No. 10-seeded Bearcats, who were looking for their second straight win against a higher-seeded team. USF advances to the semifinal round of the American Championship for the fourth time in the tournament’s six-year history.
 
USF built a 3-1 lead after Laura Pellicer Perello and Nicole Dzenga delivered singles wins in straight sets, while the three remaining matches remained up for grabs. Caroline Morton brought the Bearcats back within one with a straight-set victory at No. 3 singles, but Mjos closed the door on the comeback bid with her 7-6 (5), 6-3 decision at No. 5.
 
USF will face SMU at 2 p.m. ET in Friday’s semifinal round.
 
 
 
AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE WOMEN’S TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
presented by AIR FORCE RESERVE
April 17-20 | Orlando, Florida
 

First Round | Wednesday, April 17
Match 1: No. 8 Memphis 4, No. 9 Temple 0
Match 2: No. 5 Wichita State 4, No. 12 UConn 0
Match 3: No. 6 SMU 4, No. 11 Tulane 2
Match 4: No. 10 Cincinnati 4, No. 7 ECU 1
Quarterfinals | Thursday, April 18
Match 5: No. 1 UCF 4, No. 8 Memphis 0
Match 6: No. 4 Tulsa 4, No. 5 Wichita State 0
Match 7: No. 6 SMU 4, No. 3 Houston 1
Match 8: No. 2 USF 4, No. 10 Cincinnati 2
Semifinals | Friday, April 19
Match 9: No. 1 UCF (20-3) vs. No. 4 Tulsa (15-9)	2 p.m.
Match 10: No. 6 SMU (11-11) vs. No. 2 USF (12-10)	2 p.m.
Final | Saturday, April 20 | American Digital Network
Match 11: Semifinal winners	3 p.m.

 
 
All times Eastern