Feb. 26, 2010
By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - Playing its fourth-straight match away from home, the UCF men's tennis team defeated host North Florida, 4-3, at the UNF Tennis Complex Friday. The Knights (4-2) won all three doubles matches to start the day, and then claimed three singles victories.
The three singles wins came from the squad's seniors. Johan Beigart (Vaxjo, Sweden) clinched the win for the Knights at No. 5. He rallied to beat the Ospreys' (6-3) Leonard Nahar, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5).
At the No. 1 doubles spot, senior Marc Rocafort (Barcelona, Spain) and junior Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla.) topped Kurt Gattiker and Taylor Albrectht (8-6). Beigart joined sophomore Joe Delinks (Falmouth, Mass.) at No. 2 and the pair got past Graham Edgar and Moritz Buerchner, 8-5. Facing Hleb Maslau and Daniel Sotomarino, senior Brock Sakey (Gulf Breeze, Fla.) and sophomore Claudio Romano (Valencia, Venezuela) were 8-5 winners.
"We did a great job in all three doubles matches and took control of the net," UCF head coach Bobby Cashman said. "That gave us a critical 1-0 lead. In singles, all three seniors stepped up and provided important third-set victories. Johan Beigart saved a match point, and continued fighting hard to take the third set tiebreaker."
In addition to Beigart, Rocafort and Sakey picked up singles wins for UCF. At the top spot, Rocafort held off Buerchner (6-4, 1-6, 6-3). Sakey defeated Albrecht, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, at No. 2.
The four-consecutive road matches for the Knights all came in the state of Florida.
UCF will return to action Sunday, hosting Florida A&M at 2 p.m. Admission is free at the UCF Tennis Complex 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.
UCF 4, North Florida 3
Singles competition
1. Marc Rocafort (UCF) def. Moritz Buerchner (UNF) 6-4, 1-6, 6-3
2. Brock Sakey (UCF) def. Taylor Albrecht (UNF) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
3. Hleb Maslau (UNF) def. Claudio Romano (UCF) 6-1, 6-4
4. Daniel Sotomarino (UNF) def. Blaze Schwartz (UCF) 7-6, 4-6, 6-4
5. Johan Beigart (UCF) def. Leonardo Nahar (UNF) 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5)
6. Kurt Gattiker (UNF) def. Mario Samson (UCF) 6-2, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Marc Rocafort/Blaze Schwartz (UCF) def. Kurt Gattiker/Taylor Albrecht (UNF) 8-6
2. Joe Delinks/Johan Beigart (UCF) def. Graham Edgar/Moritz Buerchner (UNF) 8-5
3. Claudio Romano/Brock Sakey (UCF) def. Hleb Maslau/Daniel Sotomarino (UNF) 8-5