April 16, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Playing host to the Conference USA Championship for the first time, the UCF men's tennis team hits the courts Friday afternoon at the UCF Tennis Complex to take on third seed SMU at 2 p.m. The Knights (10-10) earned the sixth seed. Admission is free throughout the tournament.
Friday before the 2 p.m. match, the first 100 fans will receive a complimentary UCF Knights t-shirt.
The match Friday is the first for the Knights since dropping to Marquette last week, 5-2. Playing without junior Johan Beigart (Vaxjo, Sweden), the squad collected singles victories from sophomore Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla.) and freshman Joe Delinks (Falmouth, Mass.)
Schwartz comes into the match with a team-best 15-5 dual-match record.
The Knights took on four conference foes this spring. In its first match of the season, the team dropped a 6-1 decision to Tulsa. At the C-USA Shootout in Greenville, N.C., the Knights went 2-1, posting victories over Southern Miss and UAB before dropping a 4-3 decision to host ECU.
SMU (15-10) comes into the match ranked 68th in the nation. The Mustangs feature the No. 65 singles player in Robin Fahgen. The junior from Sweden holds a 12-4 record at the No. 1 spot for the Mustangs.
Friday at 8 a.m., the eight-team tournament begins as No. 4 ECU (19-4) faces off with No. 5 Southern Miss (9-8). The match is followed by top seed Tulsa (17-9) versus No. 8 Memphis (14-10) at 11 a.m. To close out the first round of play, second seed Rice (14-9) takes on No. 7 UAB (10-10) at 5 p.m.
For up-to-date coverage on the tournament, live stats, photo galleries and free video highlights visit Conference USA Championship Central.
Parking for the tournament on Friday is a daily fee of $5 to park in any of the general "green" parking lots. On Saturday and Sunday, parking is free in any of the lots on campus.
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.