Feb. 6, 2008
Final Stats
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF men's tennis team could not get past in-state rival Stetson Wednesday, suffering a 6-1 loss to the Hatters on a rainy afternoon at the UCF Tennis Complex. The Knights dropped to 1-2 on the season while Stetson jumped to 2-0.
"We are disappointed as a team, but we are a resilient, cohesive group that learns from every situation," said head coach Bobby Cashman. "We will improve from this experience beginning immediately. We also want to thank the crowd that came out through two rain delays and stayed to cheer on our Knights."
Stetson opened the match by taking two of the three doubles contests for an overall 1-0 lead, but had to do it by surviving two rain delays. Tied 3-3 at No. 2, Stetson's Serguei Boulanov and Joey Jones won the next five games after the first delay to defeat senior Sinan Sudas (Adana, Turkey) and freshman Claudio Romano (Valencia, Venezuela), 8-3. Stetson's Hicham Laalej and Filip Kricka then trounced junior Danny Colon (Jacksnoville, Fla./Englewood) and senior Nikolas Overkemping (Bonn, Germany) at No. 3, 8-4, to lock up the doubles point. UCF was able to grab the victory at No. 1 as junior Brock Sakey (Gulf Breeze, Fla./Gulf Breeze) and sophomore Johan Beigart (Vaxjo, Sweden) topped Marcus Echtler and Christopher Swanteson in a shortened 5-2 decision.
Singles action started at 5:02, more than three hours after the match's original start time of 2 p.m. The Hatters made it 2-0 when Echtler defeated Overkemping, 6-1, 6-2. The Knights kept pace in the final five singles matches, only to see Stetson squeak out the next four points to secure the team victory.
Colon played the tightest match of the day at No. 6. After taking the first set against Swanteson, 6-4, Colon witnessed his opponent battle back for a 7-5 win in the second set. The third eventually went into a tiebreak, where the Jacksonville native gutted out a 7-5 victory to pick up UCF's lone point.
UCF hits the road for its next outing, traveling to Daytona Beach for a noon showdown with Bethune-Cookman on Saturday.
For the latest news and information on the Knights, tickets or apparel log on to www.ucfathletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. Also, check out UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.
Doubles Competition
1. Brock Sakey/Johan Beigart def. Marcus Echtler/Christopher Swanteson 5-2, ret.
2. Joey Jones/Serguei Boulanov def. Sinan Sudas/Claudio Romano 8-3
3. Filip Kricka/Hicham Laalej def. Nikolas Overkemping/Danny Colon 8-4
Singles Competition
1. Marcus Echtler def. Nikolas Overkemping 6-1, 6-2
2. Joey Jones def. Johan Beigart 6-3, 7-5
3. Hicham Laalej def. Sinan Sudas 6-2, 7-6(4)
4. Filip def. Claudio Romano 6-4, 7-5
5. Serguei Boulanov def. Brock Sakey 4-6, 7-5, 10-5
6. Danny Colon def. Christopher Swanteson 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (5)
Records:
Stetson 2-0
UCF 1-2