Feb. 24, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF men's tennis team knocked off its second-consecutive ranked opponent by defeating UAB 6-1 on Friday afternoon at the UCF Tennis Complex. The match was the second of three contests the Golden Knights will play in the UCF/Conference USA Shootout. UCF has topped UAB (4-3) for the second year in a row.
Ranked 71st by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA), the Golden Knights have rattled off three straight wins, improving their record to 6-3 on the season.
UCF started off in doubles play with sophomores Tarek Ben Soltane (Tunis, Tunisia) and Jimmy Roesch (Melbourne, Fla./Eau Gallie) winning at the No. 3 spot, 8-4, against Alex Emery and Thomas Petrich. The Golden Knights earned another victory and the doubles point from sophomores Brock Sakey (Gulf Breeze, Fla./Gulf Breeze) and Norman Alcantara (Mexico City, Mexico) at the No. 1 spot with an 8-6 decision over Thomas Weiss and Kruno Despotovski. The match marked the first time that Sakey and Alcantara paired up at No. 1.
The Golden Knights dropped a close match at No. 2 as senior Sinan Sudas (Adana, Turkey) and freshman Johan Beigart (Vaxjo, Sweden) lost in the third set. Johannes Spangenberg and Tim Bauer took the decision over Sudas and Beigart, 8-7, 1-0 (10-4).
Singles action, UCF took wins at five of the six tilts. The Golden Knights received their second point on the afternoon from Ben Soltane at No. 2 who dropped the first match 4-6, but battled back to win the second and third matches 6-1 over Johannes Spangenberg. Sudas took the next victory at the No. 1 spot over Thomas Weiss, 7-6, 6-4.
Alcantara became the third straight Golden Knight on the day to earn a win in singles play as he defeated Alex Emery, 7-5, 6-4, at the No. 5 spot. Beigart improved to 3-0 on the season at the No. 3 spot by defeating Tim Bauer, 1-6, 6-3, 7-5. Sakey fell at No. 4 to Kruno Despotovski, 0-6, 7-6 (7-3), 3-0, retiring in the third set. Roesch concluded the contest with the Blazers with a win at the No. 6 spot against Thomas Petrich, 6-4, 4-6, 1-0 (10-7).
The Golden Knights return to the UCF Tennis Complex on Sunday against East Carolina for the final match of the tournament. First serve is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.
Admission is free to all UCF home matches.
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