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A Look Back at the Men's Tennis Fall Season

Nov. 25, 2008

With the fall season ending in November, the UCF men's tennis team enjoyed much success as the squad prepares for conference play in 2009. The Knights competed in tournaments across the southeast during the fall. The team participated at the Southern Intercollegiate Championship (Athens, Ga.), USF Invitational (Tampa, Fla.), D'Novo All-American Championship (Tulsa, Okla.), C.L. Varner Memorial Invitational (Winter Park, Fla.) and the UCF Invitational.

Johan's World
Johan Beigart finished this fall with a 5-4 record. The 2008 All-Conference USA second teamer closed out the early season with two victories at the UCF Invitational. Beigart defeated Martin Shishkov (Georgia State) 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 and Neal Skupski (LSU) 7-6 (6-2), 6-3. In doubles matches, Beigart finished with a 3-2 record and went 2-1 with sophomore Claudio Romano.

Tarek's Streaks
Tarek Ben Soltane, the Tunisian senior, capped off the fall season with a 7-2 record, including five straight wins to start the year. He advanced all the way to the quarterfinals of the Southern Intercollegiate Championship where he was defeated by Lander's Sheharvar Wali 6-2, 7-6 (4). In his doubles matches, Ben Soltane went 4-2 overall, and 2-0 with senior Brock Sakey at the USF Invitational.

Joe Knows...
Joe Delinks, the rookie from Massachusetts, enjoyed his first fall as a Knight, capping it off with a 10-2 doubles record. Delinks and Sakey made it to the semifinals of the Southern Intercollegiate Championship where they were defeated by NC State's Frideric Prandecki and Christian Welte 8-5. Delinks also competed in singles matches, recording a 4-3 record.

Eugene's Successes
Eugene Dolgovykh made a quick transition in his first fall season at UCF. The freshman went 7-2 in singles matches, and 4-1 in doubles. At the Southern Intercollegiate Championship, Dolgovykh had impressive 6-0, 6-1 victories over Jeff Archer (Charlotte) and Kyle Wishing (Middle Tennessee State). Competing at the USF Invitational, Dolgovykh recorded a 3-0 mark defeating players from Georgia State, Florida Gulf Coast and USF.

For Sakey's Sake
Now in his senior campaign, Sakey enjoyed the fall season, recording a 7-3 singles mark while going undefeated in doubles with an 8-1 record. At the Southern Intercollegiate Championship, Sakey's top match was a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Preseton Lemon (Virginia Tech). Sakey also enjoyed a 2-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Francois Van Lampe (Nebraska) at the D'Novo All-American Championship. Six of Sakey's eight doubles victories were with Delinks. The duo enjoyed victories over tandems from USF, Jacksonville and LSU.

Set a Blaze
At the start of his sophomore campaign, Blaze Schwartz concluded the fall season with an 8-2 singles record. Schwartz's best tournament was at the C.L. Varner Memorial Invitational held at Rollins College. The sophomore posted an impressive 5-0 record on his way to winning a singles flight championship, including victories over Rollins, Stetson and Barry. Schwartz also competed in doubles posting a 4-2 record with marquee victories over players from Georgia State and Florida Southern.

No Place Like Home
At the end of October, the Knights hosted teams from across the southeast at the UCF Invitational. FAU, Georgia State and LSU competed in the three-day tournament. The team jumped out to an early 6-2 mark on day one in singles play, while posting a 3-1 record in doubles. On day two, the Knights continued their strong play posting a 4-1 record in singles and 1-1 in doubles. The final day of the tournament was cancelled due to rain

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