March 7, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - Facing the 51st-ranked squad in the nation, the UCF men's tennis team rolled to a 5-2 victory over Tennessee Tech on Friday at the UCF Tennis Complex. The Knights claimed the doubles point and took four singles matches on their way to the win.
Freshman Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla./Washington) clinched the win for UCF (5-5) at the No. 6 singles spot. He defeated Mario Gutierrez, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
"This was our second-consecutive match where we had an overall team effort and a lot of determination in singles and doubles," said UCF head coach Bobby Cashman. "We had good crowd support today and we have had great support at all of our matches this year. We really want to thank our fans for being out there, and we hope to carry this momentum into our spring-break trip."
Tennessee Tech fell to 7-3 on the year with the loss.
In addition to Schwartz at No. 6, the Knights recorded wins at the No. 2, 4 and 5 singles positions.
At No. 2, senior Sinan Sudas (Adana, Turkey) held on for a 7-6, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6) victory over Tiago Gillioli. Junior Tarek Ben Soltane (Tunis, Tunisia) rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 win against Giovani Vaglietti at No 4.
Against Juan Pablo Gomez at No. 5, freshman Claudio Romano (Valencia, Venezuela) eased to a 6-2, 6-0 decision.
UCF claimed two of three doubles tilts as the No. 1 match was not finished due to time constraints.
Junior Brock Sakey (Gulf Breeze, Fla./Gulf Breeze) and sophomore Johan Beigart (Vaxjo, Sweden) clinched the doubles point for the Knights at the No. 2 spot. They recorded an 8-4 win against Gilloli and Borja Zarco.
At No. 3, Ben Soltane and Schwartz breezed past Gutierezz and James Crawford (8-1).
UCF's Danny Colon (Jacksonville, Fla./Englewood) faced Crawford in an exhibition singles match and posted a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win.
Starting Tuesday, the Knights will play three matches in three days in San Diego, Calif. The squad opens the stretch against Montana State.
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