Texas Tech University Athletics
Texas Tech Athletics
UCF
Tech falls to No. 10 UCF in Orlando
March 13, 2026 | Men's Tennis
ORLANDO, Fla. – Despite the Scarlet and Black winning the doubles point to begin the match, the No. 10-ranked UCF Knights came back to defeat the Texas Tech Red Raiders, 4-1, on Friday evening at the USTA National Campus. Â
Texas Tech (9-6, 0-1 Big 12) started the match by winning the doubles point against UCF (15-2, 1-0 Big 12). The Red Raider duo of Sebastian Abboud and Tyler Stewart went out to a 4-1 lead over Clement Lemire and Paul Colin at court two. The Knights tried to claw back, but the Tech tandem earned a 6-3 win to give the Red Raiders a slight advantage.
Over at court one, Niksa Arsic and Thiago Guglieri jumped out to a 3-0 lead over Wissam Abderranhman and Mehdi Benchakroun. The Knights would tie things up at 4-4 after winning four of the next five games. However, the Red Raider pair won the next two games to clinch the doubles point and 1-0 lead for Texas Tech.
UCF retook the momentum in singles with three quick wins. At court three, Benchakroun defeated Ludovico Vaccari by a 6-0, 6-3 score. The Knights grabbed the lead when Colin beat Pagnacco at court four, 6-0, 6-2. At court six, Lemire overtook Abboud, 6-3, 6-0, to give UCF a 3-1 advantage.
The Red Raiders would now need the remaining three singles matches to win the contest. After dropping the first sets at all six courts, Guglieri came back to even his match and force a third set after taking set two by a 6-4 score at court five against Nicolas Oliveira. His match would go unfinished with a 4-4 tie in the third. At court one, Arsic was battling with No. 83-ranked Dlimi. After dropping the first set in a tight, 7-5 score, Arsic forced a tiebreaker where he led 3-2 before his match went unfinished.
At court two, Stewart was locked in a fight with No. 74-ranked Abderranhman. The Knight won the first set, 6-3, but Stewart tied things up with a 6-3 set two. However, Abderranhman would clinch the win for UCF with a 6-2 victory in the third set.
Up next, the Red Raiders head to Fort Worth, Texas to take on the No. 5 TCU Horned Frogs at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
RESULTS
Texas Tech 1, #10 UCF 4
Singles
1. #83 Yassine Dlimi (UCF) vs. Niksa Arsic (TTU) 7-5, 6-6 (2-3), unfinished
2. #74 Wissam Abderrahman (UCF) def. Tyler Stewart (TTU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-2
3. Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) def. Ludovico Vaccari (TTU) 6-0, 6-3
4. Paul Colin (UCF) def. Felipe Pagnacco (TTU) 6-0, 6-2
5. Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) vs. Thiago Guglieri (TTU) 6-4, 4-6, 4-4, unfinished
6. Clement Lemire (UCF) def. Sebastian Abboud (TTU) 6-3, 6-0
Doubles
1. Niksa Arsic/Thiago Guglieri (TTU) def. Wissam Abderrahman/Mehdi Benchakroun (UCF) 6-4
2. Sebastian Abboud/Tyler Stewart (TTU) def. Paul Colin/Clement Lemire (UCF) 6-3
3. Luca Hotze/Nicolas Oliveira (UCF) vs. Felipe Pagnacco/Thomas Van Den Dooren (TTU) 6-5, unfinished
Order of finish: Doubles (2, 1), Singles (3, 4, 6, 2)
Texas Tech Men's Tennis
- 19 NCAA Tournament Appearances
- 10 NCAA Singles Championship Participants
- 13 NCAA Doubles Championship Participants
- Seven All-Americans
- 2016 Big 12 Champions
- 53 Academic All-Big 12 Selections
- Career-high ITA End of Year Team Ranking of No. 11
- Eight Top-25 ITA End of Year Team Rankings
Team Stats
#1 Doubles Match
#2 Doubles Match
#3 Doubles Match
Order of Finish:
2,1
#1 Singles Match
#2 Singles Match
#3 Singles Match
#4 Singles Match
#5 Singles Match
#6 Singles Match
Order of Finish:
3,4,6,2
Players Mentioned
