Jan. 6, 2012
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By Doug Richards
UCFAthletics.com
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - The UCF men's tennis team opened its home tournament, the UCF Spring Invitational, Friday on a beautiful winter day in Orlando. UCF is hosting Alabama, Indiana, Louisville and Radford at the three-day event.
The tournament is serving as UCF's lone tune-up before opening the spring campaign later this month.
On Friday, UCF players recorded three singles victories and a pair of doubles triumphs. In singles play, junior Jorge Blasco defeated Ricky Doverspike of Alabama, 7-6, 6-4. The win came in dramatic fashion as Blasco erased a 2-5 first-set deficit to top a player who has been ranked in the top-70 nationally.
Fellow junior Juan Bolona held on for a 6-4, 0-6, 6-4 win over Louisville's Adam Donaldson. Senior Eugene Dolgovykh also picked up a win. He handled Louisville's Jonathan Kuhn (6-4, 7-5).
In doubles, Bolona joined Blasco for a 9-7 triumph over Donaldson and Amaury Derognat. Junior Mario Samson and sophomore Matthew Gladstone topped Louisville's Jonathan Kuhn and Ross Nigro, 8-5.
"Overall we had a good day. We competed hard and we will need to continue to do so the remainder of the weekend," UCF head coach Bobby Cashman said. "The guys are fresh off of holiday break so this tournament gives us a good gauge of where we currently are and is a great way to get some match play before heading into our dual-match season."
UCF will resume action at the tournament Saturday morning at 8 a.m.
UCF Results
Doubles:
Doverspike/Tsangaridis (BAMA) def. Brunskog/Dolgovykh (UCF) 8-2
Thompson/Vieyra (BAMA) def. Thams/DeLinks (UCF) 8-5
Blasco/Bolona (UCF) def. Donaldson/Derognat (L'VILLE) 9-7
Samson/Gladstone (UCF) def. Kuhn/Nigro (L'VILLE) 8-5
Singles:
Jorge Blasco (UCF) def. Ricky Doverspike (BAMA) 7-6; 6-4
Filippos Tsangaridis (BAMA) def. Erik Brunskog (UCF) 7-6; 6-3
David Vieyra (BAMA) def. Mitch Thams (UCF) 6-1; 6-3
Michael Thompson (BAMA) def. Mario Samson (UCF) 6-1; 6-4
Juan Bolona (UCF) def. Adam Donaldson (L'VILLE) 6-4; 0-6; 6-4
Amaury Derognat (L'VILLE) def. Matthew Gladstone (UCF) 7-6; 2-6; 6-4
Ross Nigro (L'VILLE) def. Joe Delinks (UCF) 7-5; 6-7; 6-2
Eugene Dolgovykh (UCF) def. Jonathan Kuhn (L'VILLE) 6-4; 7-5