April 13, 2010
By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - On Tuesday afternoon, the UCF men's tennis team closed its regular season in strong fashion, sweeping local foe Embry-Riddle en route to a 9-0 victory at the UCF Tennis Complex. The Knights (11-7) won all three doubles contests, and then claimed each of the six singles matches.
The squads used NAIA rules and as a result, each doubles contest counted as a point. Embry-Riddle (16-5) is ranked third nationally in NAIA. The match was delayed on three occasions due to rain.
The contest served as the final home match for UCF's three seniors - Johan Beigart (Vaxjo, Sweden), Marc Rocafort (Barcelona, Spain) and Brock Sakey (Gulf Breeze, Fla.)
UCF dominated at the top of the lineup in singles as Rocafort (6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 over Jan Hoekzema) and Sakey (6-4, 6-4 at No. 2 over Alexis Heugas) registered quick victories. Beigart was also victorious in his final match in Orlando, topping Istvan Bolgar, 7-6 (4), 6-1, at No. 5.
Junior Blaze Schwartz (Pensacola, Fla.), sophomore Claudio Romano (Valencia, Venezuela) and freshman Mario Samson (Miami, Fla.) also picked up singles wins for the hosts.
"I thought we did a great job remaining focused today and dealing with three rain delays and a talented squad from Embry-Riddle," UCF head coach Bobby Cashman said. "We have really learned a great deal from all of our matches this year and that has shown in our last three matches. We are looking forward to the start of the C-USA tournament next week."
In doubles, Rocfort and Schwartz were 8-6 winners at the top spot over Hoekzema and Heugas. Facing Bolgar and Peter Francis at No. 2, Beigart and sophomore Joe Delinks (Falmouth, Mass.) rolled to an 8-1 victory. Sakey and Romano were too much for Charlie Rice and Zander Woodford-Smith, as the Knights won 8-5 at No. 3.
With the win, UCF improved to 6-2 at home in 2010.
The Knights will now have more than a week to prepare for the C-USA Championship, which will begin April 22 in Houston. UCF's first match at the event should come on April 23.
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 9, Embry-Riddle 0
Doubles Competition
1. Rocafort/Schwartz (UCF) def. Hoekzema/Heugas (ERU) 8-6
2. Delinks/Beigart (UCF) def. Francis/Bolgar (ERU) 8-1
3. Romano/Sakey (UCF) def. Rice/Woodford-Smith (ERU) 8-5
Singles Competition
1. Marc Rocafort (UCF) def. Jan Hoekzema (ERU) 6-2, 6-0
2. Brock Sakey (UCF) def. Alexis Heugas (ERU) 6-4, 6-4
3. Blaze Schwartz (UCF) def. Peter Francis (ERU) 6-4, 6-3
4. Claudio Romano (UCF) def. Charlie Rice (ERU) 3-6, 6-3, 10-4
5. Johan Beigart (UCF) def. Istvan Bolgar (ERU) 7-6 (4), 6-1
6. Mario Samson (UCF) def. Zander Woodford-Smith (ERU) 7-5, 6-1