March 16, 2011
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By Sean Simon
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF men's tennis team returns to the road this weekend, following a 11-match homestand, to face three nationally-ranked programs at the 53rd Annual Rice Invitational in Houston, Texas. The Knights face No. 60 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday at 11 a.m. and No. 41 Rice on Saturday at 12 p.m. The Knights conclude tournament play on Sunday at 9 a.m. against archrival USF, ranked 50th in the nation.
The Knights (6-9) have faced a ranked opponent in their last three matches, facing No. 27 Tulsa Tuesday. UCF nearly managed the upset in doubles, falling to a pair of nationally-ranked tandems 9-8 at the No. 1 and 2. Junior Joe Delinks (Falmouth, Mass.) picked up the only singles victory at No. 4.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is 9-6 this season. The Islanders are led by senior Laurent Montoisy who has been named Southland Conference Men's Tennis Player of the Week three times this season. Conference USA foe Rice is 10-4 this spring after winning seven-consecutive home matches before falling to No. 42 Wake Forest last week.
USF is 8-3 this season and has yet to play a match outside the Tampa, Fla., city limits. The Knights and Bulls last met at the Gator Invitational last September. The Black and Gold took doubles play while USF won singles action. UCF brought home a 4-3 victory during last year's spring matchup in Tampa.