March 18, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - During UCF's spring break, the men's tennis team traveled to the west coast for three matches in the state of California. The squad knocked off both Montana State and Cal Poly, 6-1. The third match, the toughest of the roadtrip, came against No. 57 UC Irvine. The Knights fell just short against the Anteaters, 4-3.
On Friday, the Knights face Cornell at the UCF Tennis Complex. First serve is set for 2 p.m.
Admission to all home matches is free.
Team Notebook
RECEIVING RECOGNITION
Last Tuesday, junior Tarek Ben Soltane (Tunis, Tunisia) was named the Conference USA Player of the Week by the league office.
Ben Soltane, who dropped his first match of the season on Sunday, had previously won seven-consecutive singles matches. During his streak, he posted a win at No. 26 Miami, recorded three wins at the C-USA Shootout and registered a victory against No. 51 Tennessee Tech.
The junior is also 4-1 in doubles play with his new partner, freshman Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla./Washington).
HOUSE PARTY
The Knights are 3-1 when playing at the UCF Tennis Complex. UCF has chalked up wins against Florida Gulf Coast (Feb. 3), Georgia State (March 5) and No. 51 Tennessee Tech (March 7).
UCF has a chance to improve its home record with three-straight matches at the UCF Tennis Complex, starting on Friday against Cornell.
AHEAD OF HIS AGE
Coming off an injury that sidelined him for the first half of the season, freshman Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla./Washington) has won his first five singles tilts.
Schwartz won all three of his matches in California, including a victory against No. 57 UC Irvine. The Pensacola native was only one of two Knights to prevail in singles play against the Anteaters.
Also, Schwartz is 4-1 in doubles with Ben Soltane.
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