March 5, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF men's tennis team returns to action Friday when it hosts No. 59 Florida Atlantic. This marks the second consecutive in-state opponent that the Knights (5-5) have faced in a week. First serve is at 11:30 a.m. at the UCF Tennis Complex, and admission is free.
Last Saturday, the Knights dropped a 6-1 decision to USF. This marked the first home loss for the team this year.
After dropping the doubles point, the Knights took three-of-six singles matches to a third set. Junior Johan Beigart (Vaxjo, Sweden) dropped his tilt at the No. 3 spot, 6-7 (3), 7-5, 10-6, to Mahmoud Hamed. Junior Marc Rocafort (Barcelona, Spain) also battled in a three-setter at the second spot, but came up short against Wael Kilani, 0-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Sophomore Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla.) added to his win total for the season when he collected the Knights' lone point by knocking off Romain Deridder, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4. Schwartz owns a team-best eight wins this year, and ran his mark to 4-0 at the No. 4 spot.
The Owls come into Orlando winners of their last six, earning them a spot in the ITA rankings at No. 59. FAU's latest win came against No. 65 Stetson as the Owls upset the visitors from DeLand, 5-2. After the Owls dropped the doubles point, the team went on to win five-of-six singles matches.
Following FAU, the Knights host a second weekend tilt when they faceoff against Georgia State Sunday morning at 10 a.m.
For the latest news on the Knights, log on to UCFAthletics.com - the official site for UCF varsity sports. The site, which also contains ticket and Golden Knights Club donor information, is also the home of UCF's new online apparel store. Also visit UCFPhotos.com, the exclusive fan source for UCF action sports pictures.