Feb. 21, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - After four-consecutive matches away from home, the UCF men's tennis team returned to the UCF Tennis Complex Saturday and recorded a 4-3 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette. The Knights (5-4) improved to 4-0 in Orlando this year.
After the Ragin' Cajuns (3-1) took the doubles point, UCF rebounded to take four singles tilts. Senior Tarek Ben Soltane (Tunis, Tunisia) secured the win for the Knights with a victory at the No. 1 singles spot.
"We did a great job today of not letting the match momentum change our focus," UCF head coach Bobby Cashman said. "Obviously the doubles point was disappointing because we led in every match and let it slip away, but we knew that we had to leave that behind and focus on the six points that were left in singles. When the singles matches started finishing, you could see that our guys weren't worried about the team score, they stayed zoned in on their matches and that helped us to finish when we got leads."
Facing Piotr Banas at the top spot, Ben Soltane held on for a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 decision.
"Tarek played a great match and rebounded well in the third set after dropping the second. Banas played well in the second to win it, but Tarek made adjustments early in the third set to get the lead. His fitness proved critical. His legs were fresh at critical points," Cashman said.
UCF's other three singles wins came in straight sets. At No. 4, sophomore Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla.) rolled to a 6-2, 6-2 win over Bradley Bristow. Facing Yanick Mandl at No. 3, junior Marc Rocafort (Barcelona, Spain) was a 6-3, 6-3 winner. Freshman Eugene Dolgovykh (Palm Coast, Fla.) topped Arlen Domoney at No. 5 (6-2, 6-1).
The contest was the first of eight-consecutive matches in Orlando for the Knights.
In doubles play, the hosts picked up a victory at No. 1. Rocafort and Schwartz handled Bristow and Neil Schneider, 8-2.
The Knights will return to the courts on Saturday, Feb. 28, hosting cross-state rival USF at 1 p.m.
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UCF 4, Louisiana 3
Singles competition
1. Tarek Ben Soltane (UCF) def. Banas, Piotr (UL) 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
2. Pulgar-Garcia, Javie (UL) def. Johan Beigart (UCF) 6-0, 7-6
3. Marc Rocafort (UCF) def. Mandl, Yanick (UL) 6-3, 6-3
4. Blaze Schwartz (UCF) def. Bristow, Bradley (UL) 6-2, 6-2
5. Eugene Dolgovykh (UCF) def. Domoney, Arlen (UL) 6-2, 6-1
6. Schneider, Neil (UL) vs. Joe Delinks (UCF) 7-6, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. Blaze Schwartz/Marc Rocafort (UCF) def. Bristow, Bradley/Schneider, Neil (UL) 8-2
2. Mandl, Yanick/Banas, Piotr (UL) def. Johan Beigart/Joe Delinks (UCF) 8-6
3. Domoney, Arlen/Pulgar-Garcia, Javie (UL) def. Tarek Ben Soltane/Eugene Dolgovykh (UCF) 8-6