April 22, 2008
ORLANDO, Fla. (www.ucfathletics.com) - The UCF men's tennis team concluded a successful season, reaching the semifinals of the Conference USA Championship for the first time since joining the league in 2005. After defeating No. 70 UAB in the first round, 4-2, the Knights were unable to upset 9th-ranked Tulsa in the league semifinals, but fell 4-0 at the SMU Tennis Center.
The Knights (12-9) finished the season with 12 victories for the second-consecutive season.
Team Notebook
FAREWELL FRIENDS
Seniors Sinan Sudas (Adana, Turkey) and Niko Overkemping (Bonn, Germany) played their final matches as Knights in the C-USA Semifinals against Tulsa on Saturday.
Sudas played all four seasons with UCF, accumulating 44 singles victories and 46 doubles wins during his tenure. The senior was named to the Atlantic Sun All-Academic Team in 2005 and then was named to the C-USA Academic Honor Roll in his sophomore and junior seasons. Since the start of his sophomore season, he consistently played at the top of the lineup for UCF.
Overkemping joined the Knights this spring, but was limited due to an injury. He won his first match in a UCF uniform on March 28 against Louisiana Lafayette's Janusz Conradi, 6-2, 6-3, at the No. 2 spot. Overkemping combined to win six doubles matches, including a 3-0 mark with sophomore Johan Beigart (Vaxjo, Sweden) at No. 1. Overkemping will continue his education at UCF in the DeVos Sport Management Program, pursuing his dual-master's degree in business administration and sports business management.
HOME COOKING
The Knights finished the 2008 campaign with a 7-2 record at the UCF Tennis Complex. UCF defeated No. 51 Tennessee Tech (3/9), 5-2, and No. 72 Florida Atlantic (4/3), 4-3, at home.
The squad won four of its five final home matches.
FRESHMEN ON FIRE
Freshmen Claudio Romano (Valencia, Venezuela) and Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla./Washington) were instrumental in the Knights' spring success. The two were among the team leaders in singles victories.
Romano finished his first season with 12 singles wins. He also tallied 11 doubles wins with five coming at the No. 1 position.
Schwartz had a strong fall season, but did not start playing in the spring until March because of an injury. After returning, he won six-straight singles decisions and finished with a 9-2 mark.
A PERFECT 10
Romano concluded the season with a 10-0 mark at the No. 5 position, giving him the most wins on court five in C-USA.
The freshman recorded wins against three ranked-opponents: No. 51 Tennessee Tech's Juan Pablo Gomez, No. 57 UC Irvine's Stephen Stege and No. 44 Denver's Andrew Landwerlen.
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