Sept. 19, 2008
ATHENS, Ga. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF men's tennis team opened its fall campaign Friday, as four Knights were in action at day one of the Southern Intercollegiate Championships at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex. In singles action, senior Tarek Ben Soltane (Tunis, Tunisia) advanced to the round of 32 in his bracket.
In the Division II round of 64, Ben Soltane posted a 6-0, 6-1 win over NC State's Akash Gujarati. He will face Doug Kenny of Georgia Tech Saturday morning.
Senior Brock Sakey (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) was also in action in the DII singles draw. In the round of 64, he came up short against Javier Tori of USC-Upstate, losing 6-2, 6-3.
Two freshmen made their collegiate debuts at the event for the Knights. Joe Delinks (Falmouth, Mass.) fell in the DIII round of 64 to Wake Forest's Joost Vogel, 6-4, 7-6 (3).In the same bracket, Wake Forest's David Hopkins got past Eugene Dolgovykh (Palm Coast, Fla.), 6-1, 7-5.
Sakey, Delinks and Dolgovykh will all begin consolation competition Saturday.
In doubles play, Delinks and Sakey teamed to defeat Sander Gille and Sergio Velez of East Tennessee State. In the DII doubles round of 64, the Knights posted an 8-3 victory.
The three-day event features 179 participants from 32 schools.
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UCF Results
Tarek Ben Soltane (UCF) def. Akash Gujarati (NC State) 6-0, 6-1
Javier Tori (USC-Upstate) def. Brock Sakey (UCF) 6-2, 6-3
Joost Vogel (Wake Forest) def. Joe Delinks (UCF) 6-4, 7-6 (3)
David Hopkins (Wake Forest) def. Eugene Dolgovykh (UCF) 6-1, 7-5
Delinks/Sakey (UCF) def. Gille/Velez (East Tennessee State) 8-3