March 13, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Facing the first of two ranked opponents this weekend, the UCF men's tennis team dropped a 5-2 match Friday afternoon to No. 47 Radford at the UCF Tennis Complex. The 68th-ranked Knights won a pair of singles contests.
The Highlanders, who improved to 9-2, claimed the doubles point and then won four of six matches in singles action. UCF fell to 7-6 with the defeat.
Sophomore Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla.) won for the hosts at No. 3. He topped Stefan Bojic, 6-4, 6-1. UCF's other singles triumph came at No. 4, where junior Johan Beigart (Vaxjo, Sweden) handled Igor Ogrizek (6-1, 6-2).
"Again in doubles we had enough opportunities to take the point and we didn't capitalize. At No. 3 doubles we were serving up 5-4 and let them back into the match, and at No. 2 doubles we held steady until just one or two mistakes cost us a break and the set," UCF head coach Bobby Cashman said. "Johan and Blaze have been tremendous in singles. They are executing the fundamentals well and once they are in the lead, they get even tougher mentally."
The Knights were playing their fifth-straight match at home.
At the No. 1 position, Radford's Martin Saver defeated senior Tarek Ben Soltane (Tunis, Tunisia).
The Knights' best chance for a doubles victory came at No. 4, but Bojic and Ogrizek held on for an 8-6 win over senior Danny Colon (Jacksonville, Fla.) and junior Marc Rocafort (Barcelona, Spain).
UCF will continue its eight-match homestand Sunday, hosting 33rd-ranked Miami at 11 a.m. Admission is free at the UCF Tennis Complex.
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#47 Radford 5, #68 UCF 2
Singles competition
1. Martin Saver (RU) def. Tarek Ben Soltane (UCF) 6-0, 6-0
2. Ivan Salec (RU) def. Marc Rocafort (UCF) 6-4, 3-6, 6-2
3. Blaze Schwartz (UCF) def. Stefan Bojic (RU) 6-4, 6-1
4. Johan Beigart (UCF) def. Igor Ogrizek (RU) 6-1, 6-2
5. Mehdi Benhammou (RU) def. Eugene Dolgovykh (UCF) 6-2, 6-3
6. Zack Watson (RU) def. Danny Colon (UCF) 6-2, 2-2
Doubles competition
1. Zack Watson/Martin Saver (RU) def. Tarek Ben Soltane/Johan Beigart (UCF) 8-2
2. Mehdi Benhammou/Ivan Salec (RU) def. Joe Delinks/Blaze Schwartz (UCF) 8-5
3. Stefan Bojic/Igor Ogrizek (RU) def. Danny Colon/Marc Rocafort (UCF) 8-6