March 22, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF men's tennis team dropped a 5-2 decision to No. 44 Denver on Saturday afternoon at the UCF Tennis Complex. The loss was just the second of the month for UCF, putting the Knights at 8-7. The Pioneers improved their record to 12-3.
"We were challenged by a good Denver team and we did not respond with consistent team effort," said UCF head coach Bobby Cashman. "We'll have an intense and productive week of practice to get prepared for our next home match. Our home crowd has been terrific all season and our guys enjoy the support."
Junior Tarek Ben Soltane (Tunis, Tunisia) and freshman Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla./Washington) won the lone doubles match of the afternoon for UCF. The duo defeated Benny Althaus and Niklas Persson at No. 3, 8-5, and are now 6-1 as a pair.
In singles play, UCF grabbed victories at two of the six tilts.
Junior Brock Sakey (Gulf Breeze, Fla./Gulf Breeze) won in straight-sets at court three against Persson, 6-2, 7-5. Sakey has won seven of his last 10 matches and is 6-3 at No. 3.
Freshman Claudio Romano (Valencia, Venezuela) grabbed a win at court five, giving him a team-leading 10 victories in singles action. Romano knocked off Andrew Landwerlen, 7-6(3), 6-2.
In an exhibition match, junior Danny Colon (Jacksonville, Fla./Englewood) defeated Ravjot Dhatt, 6-4, 6-2.
UCF wraps up its three-match homestand on Friday against Louisiana-Lafayette. First serve at the UCF Tennis Complex is set for 2 p.m.
Admission to all UCF home matches is free.
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